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Section  -i.-Qx^S^.  ^  / 


BIRTH  OF  CHRIST. 

"And  they  came  with  haste,  and  found  Mary  and  Joseph,  and  the  Babe  L\^NG  in  a 
Manger." — Luke  a  :  :6. 


CHRIST  BLESSING  LITTLE  CHILDREN. 

'Suffer  Little  Children  to  come  unto  Me,  and  Forbid  them  not."— Mark  lo:  14. 


...THE   NEW... 

CHILD'S   LIFE  OF 
CHRIST 

A    GRAPHIC    DESCRIPTION    OF 

THE  BIRTH,   EARLY   LIFE,   PATHWAYS   TRODDEN,  SCENES 

VISITED,  AND  TRIALS  ENDURED  BY  OUR  LORD 

AND   5AVI0UR   IN   HIS   EARTHLY 

PILGRIMAGE 

Told  in  Easy  Language 


The  Author  of  "Jessica's  First  Praver,"  Hesba  Stretton 


Illuminated  with  Lithograph  Plates,  New  Half=Tone  Pictures  and 
Numerous  Text  Illustrations 


S-«»»*9*»9i»»9i 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1901,  by 

W.  E.  SCUXJj. 
in  the  ofticc  of  the  Librarian  of  Congre&&,  at  Wa&bington. 


^»i 


■gtj'feaiaafreia&fefeSiaai'gai 


*9«a-9««^-a-3-9iS9^.^S1?** 


f 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 


^ /^  HE   following   slight   and   brief  sketch   is  merely 

^^,^  the  sfory  of  the  life  and  death  of  our  Lord.  It 
■  '  ''p  has  been  written  for  those  who  have  not  the 
i  leisure,  or  the  books,  needed  for  threading 
together  the  fragmentary  and  scattered  incidents 
recorded  in  the  Four  Gospels,  Of  late  years 
these  records  have  been  searched  diligently 
"^'^  for  the  smallest  links,  which  might  serve  to 
complete  the  chain  of  those  years  passed  among 
us  1  ,  One  who  called  himself  the  Son  of  man,  and  did  not  refuse 
to  be  called  the  Son  of  God.  This  little  book  is  intended  only 
to  present  the  result  of  these  close  investigations,  made  by  many 
learned  men,  in  a  plain,  continuous  narrative,  suitable  for  unlearned 
reader.;.  There  is  nothing  new  in  it.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
write  anything  new  of  that  Life,  which  has  been  studied  and 
sifted    or  nearly  nineteen  hundred  years. 

The  great  mystery  that  surrounds  Christ  is  left  untouched 
Neither  love  nor  thought  of  ours  can  reach  the  heart  of  it, 
whilst  still  we  see  him  as  through  a  glass  darkly.  When  we 
beiiold  him  as  he  is,  face  to  face,  then,  and  only  then,  shall  we 
know  fully  what  he  was,  and  what  he  did  for  us.  Whilst  wf 
stram  our  eyes  to  catch  the  mysterious  vision,  but  dimly  visible, 
we  are  in  danger  of  becoming  blind  to  that  human,  simple,  homely 
lilt  spent  among  us  as  the  pattern  of  our  days.  "  If  any  mar 
thmk  that  he  knoweth  anything,  he  knoweth  nothing  yet  as  he 
ought  to  know.  But  if  any  man  love  God,  the  same  is  known 
of  him."     Happy  they  who  are  content  with  being  known  of  God. 


gono^eint:"©. 


BOOK  I.— th:^  garprntj^r. 


I.  The  Holy  Land, ii 

II.  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem 15 

III.  In  the  Temple 23 


IV.  The  Wise  Men,      27 

V.  Nazareth, 33 

VI .  The  First  Passover 3(7 


BOOK   II.— THE.  PROPHE.T. 

IX.  At  Nain,     .    , 95 

X.  Mighty  Work 98 

XI.  A  Holiday  in  Galilee, 104 

XII.  In  the  North, no 

XIII.  At  Home  Once  More 116 

XIV.  The  Last  Autumn, 122 

XV.  Lazarus 131 

XVI.  The  Last  Sabbath 136 


I.  John  the  Baptist, 45 

II.  Cana  of  Galilee, 49 

III.  The  First  Summer, 56 

IV.  Samaria,       60 

V.  The  First  Sabbath  Miracle,     .    .  69 

VI.  His  Old  Home 74 

VII.  Capernaum, 78 

VIII.   Foes  from  Jerusalem, 87 


BOOK   III.— VIGTIM  AND  VIGTOR. 


I.  The  Son  of  David 143 

II.  The  Traitor, .150 

III.  The  Paschal  Supper, 155 

IV,  Gethsemane, 163 

V.  The  High  Priest's  Palace,     ...  167 

VI.  Pilate's  Judgment  Hall,     ....  170 
VII.  Calvary .178 


VIII.   In  the  Grave, 184 

IX.  The  Sepulchre 189 

X.  Emmaus, 198 

XI.  It  is  the  Lord, 204 

XII.  His  Friends, 208 

XIII.  His  Foes, 211 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


BOOK   I. 

THB  CARPENTBR 


CHAPTER  I.— THE  HOLY  LAND. 

VERY  far  away  from  our  own  country 
lies  the  land  where  Jesus  Christ  was 
J  born.  More  than  five  thousand  miles 
stretch  between  us  and  it,  and  those 
who  wish  to  visit  it  must  journey  over 
sea  and  land  to  reach  its  shores.  It 
rests  in  the  very  heart  and  centre  of 
the  Old  World,  with  Asia,  Europe,  and 
Africa  encircling  it.  A  little  land  it  is, 
only  about  two  hundred  miles  in  length, 
and  but  fifty  miles  broad  from  the  Great 
sea,  or  the  Mediterranean,  on  the  west,  to  the  river  Jordan,  on  the 
east.  But  its  hills  and  valleys,  its  dusty  roads  and  green  pastures, 
its  vineyards  and  oliveyards,  and  its  village  streets  have  been  trodden 
by  the  feet  of  our  Lord  ;  and  for  us,  as  well  as  for  the  Jews,  to  whom 
God  gave  it,  it  is  the  Holy  Land. 

The  country  lies  high,  and  forms  a  table-land,  on  which  there  are 
mountains  of  considerable  height.  Moses  describes  it  as  "a  good 
land,  a  land  of  brooks  of  water,  of  fountains  and  depths  that  spring 


SHRINE  OF  ANNUNCIATION. 


IS  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

out  of  valleys  and  hills,  a  land  of  wheat,  and  barley,  and  vines,  and 
fig-trees,  and  pomegranates ;  a  land  of  oil  olive,  and  honey ;  a  land 
wherein  thou  shalt  eat  bread  without  scarceness.  A  land  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  careth  for :  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  thy  God  are  always 
upon  it,  from  the  beginning  of  the  year,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
year."  The  sky  is  cloudless,  except  in  the  end  of  autumn  and  in 
winter,  and  no  moisture  collects  but  in  the  form  of  dew.  In  former 
times  vineyards  and  orchards  climbed  up  the  slopes  of  every  hill,  and 
the  plains  were  covered  with  wheat  and  barley.  It  was  densely 
peopled,  far  more  so  than  our  own  country  is  now,  and  over  all  the 
land  villages  and  towns  were  built,  with  farm-houses  scattered 
between  them.  Herds  of  sheep  and  goats  were  pastured  in  the 
valleys,  and  on  the  barren  mountains,  where  the  vines  and  olives 
could  not  grow. 

There  are  'two  lakes  in  Palestine,  one  in  the  northwest,  the  other 
southwest,  with  the  river  Jordan  flowing  between  them,  through  a 
deep  valley,  sixty  miles  long.  The  southern  lake  is  the  Dead  Sea,  or 
Sea  of  Death.  No  living  creature  can  exist  in  its  salt  waters.  The 
palm-trees  carried  down  by  the  floods  of  Jordan  are  cast  up  again  by 
the  waves  on  the  marshy  shore,  and  lie  strewn  about  it,  bare  and 
bleached,  and  crusted  over  with  salt  Naked  rocks  close  in  the  sea, 
with  no  verdure  upon  them ;  rarely  is  a  bird  seen  to  fly  across  it,  whilst 
at  the  southern  end,  where  there  is  a  mountain,  and  pillars  of  rock- 
salt,  white  as  snow,  there  always  hangs  a  veil  of  mist,  like  smoke 
ascending  up  forever  and  ever  into  the  blue  sky  above.  As  the 
brown  and  rapid  stream  of  Jordan  flows  into  it  on  the  north,  the  waters 
will  not  mingle,  but  the  salt  waves  foam  against  the  fresh,  sweet 
rurrent  of  the  river,  as  if  to  oppose  its  effort  to  bring  some  life  into 
Its  desolate  and  barren  depths. 

The  northern  lake  is  called  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  Like  the  Dead  Sea, 
it  lies  in  a  deep  basin,  surrounded  by  hills ;  but  this  depth  gives  to  it 
so  warm  and  fertilizing  a  climate,  that  the  shores  are  covered  with  a 
thick  jungle  of  shrubs,  especially  of  the  oleander,  with  its  rose-colored 
blossoms.  Grassy  slopes  here  and  there  lead  up  to  the  feet  of  the 
mountains.     The  deep  blue  waters  are  sweet,  clear,  and  transparent, 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  1 3 

and  in  some  places  the  waves  ebb  and  flow  over  beds  of  flowers,  which 
have  crept  down  to  the  very  margin  of  the  lake.  Flocks  of  birds 
build  among  the  jungle,  and  water-fowl  skim  across  the  surface  of  the 
lake  in  myriads,  for  the  water  teems  with  fish.  All  the  early  hours  of 
the  morning  the  lark  sings  there  merrily,  and  throughout  the  live-long 
day  the  moaning  of  the  dove  is  heard.  In  former  times,  when  the 
shores  of  the  lake  were  crowded  with  villages,  hundreds  of  boats  and 
'ittle  ships  with  white  sails  sailed  upon  it,  and  all  sorts  of  fruit  and 
orn  were  cultivated  on  the  western  plain. 

The  Holy  Land,  in  the  time  of  our  Lord,  was  divided  into  three 
provinces,  almost  into  three  countries,  as  distinct  as  England,  Scotland, 
and  Wales.  In  the  south  was  Judaea,  with  the  capital,  Jerusalem,  the 
Holy  City,  where  the  temple  of  the  Jews  was  built,  and  where  their 
king  dwelt.  The  people  of  Judaea  were  more  courtly  and  polished, 
and,  perhaps,  more  educated  than  the  other  Jews,  for  they  lived  nearer 
Jerusalem,  where  all  the  greatest  and  wisest  men  of  the  nation  had 
their  homes.  Up  in  the  north  lay  Galilee,  inhabited  by  stronger  and 
rougher  men,  whose  work  was  harder  and  whose  speech  was  harsher 
than  their  southern  brethren,  but  whose  spirit  was  more  independent, 
and  more  ready  to  rebel  against  tyranny.  Between  those  two  districts, 
occupied  by  Jews,  lay  an  unfriendly  country,  called  Samaria,  whose 
people  were  of  a  mixed  race,  descended  from  a  colony  of  heathen  who 
had  been  settled  in  the  country  seven  hundred  years  before,  and  who 
had  so  largely  intermarried  with  the  Jews  that  they  had  often  sought 
to  become  united  with  them  as  one  nation.  The  Jews  had  steadily 
resisted  this  union,  and  now  a  feeling  of  bitter  enmity  existed  between 
them,  so  that  Galilee  was  shut  off  from  Judaea  by  an  alien  country. 

The  great  prosperity  of  the  Jewish  nation  had  passed  away  lon^ 
'•efore  our  Lord  was  born.  An  unpopular  king,  Herod,  who  did  not 
belong  to  the  royal  house  of  David,  was  reigning ;  but  he  held  his 
throne  only  upon  sufferance  from  the  great  emperor  of  Rome,  whose 
people  had  then  subdued  all  the  known  world.  As  yet  there  were  no 
Roman  tax-gatherers  in  the  land,  but  Herod  paid  tribute  to  Augustus, 
md  this  was  raised  by  heavy  taxes  upon  the  people.  All  the  country- 
was  full  of  murmuring,  and  discontent,  and  dread.     But  a  secret  hope 


<4 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


was  running  deep  down  in  every  Jewish  heart,  helping  them  to  bear 
their  present  burdens.  The  time  was  well-nigh  fulfilled  when,  accord- 
mg  to  the  prophets,  a  King  of  the  house  of  David,  greater  than  David 
m  battle,  and  more  glorious  than  Solomon  in  all  his  glory,  should  be 
born  to  the  nation.  Far  away  in  Galilee,  in  the  little  villages  among 
the  hills,  and  the  busy  towns  by  the  lake,  and  down  in  southern 
ludsea,  in  the  beautiful  capital,  Jerusalem,  and  in  the  sacred  cities  of 
the  priests,  a  whisper  passed  from  one  drooping  spirit  to  anothc 
"  Patience  I  the  kingdom  of  Messiah  is  at  hand." 

As  the  land  of  our  Lord  lies  many  hundreds  of  miles  from  us,  S' 
his  life  on  this  earth  was  passed  hundreds  of  years  ago.  There  are 
mnumerable  questions  we  long  to  ask,  but  there  is  no  one  to  answer 
Four  little  books,  each  one  called  a  gospel,  or  the  good  tidings  of 
Jesus  Christ,  are  all  we  have  to  tell  us  of  that  most  beautiful  and 
most  wondrous  life.  But  whenever  we  name  the  date  of  the  present 
year  we  are  counting  from  the  time  when  he  was  born.  In  reality,  he 
was  born  three  or  four  years  earlier. 


BETHLEHEM. 


CHAPTER  II.— JERUSALEM  AND  BETHLEHEM. 


ERUSALEM  was  a  city  beautiful  for  situation, 
built  on  two  ridges  of  rocky  ground,  with  a  deep 
valley  between  them.  It  was  full  of  splendid 
palaces  and  towers,  with  aqueducts  and  bridges, 
and  massive  walls,  the  stones  of  which  are  still 
a  marvel  for  their  size.  Upon  the  ridge  of 
Mount  Zion  stood  the  marble  palaces  of  the 
king,  his  noblemen,  and  the  high-priest;  on  the 
t  -ii^ '  V  opposite  and  lower  hill  rose  the  temple,  built 
f^''^^y\  of  snow-white    marble,   with    cedar    roofs,   and 

parapets  of  gold,  which,  glistening  in  the  bright 
sunshine  and  pure  moonlight,  could  be  seen  from  afar  off  in  the 
clear,  dry  atmosphere  of  that  eastern  land.  From  ridge  to  ridge  a 
magnificent  viaduct  was  built,  connecting  the  temple  mount  with 
Mount  Zion  and  its  streets  of  palaces. 

Every  Jew  had  a  far  more  fervent  and  loyal  affection  for  the  temple 
than  for  the  palace  of  the  king.  It  was  in  fact  the  palace  of  their  true 
King,  Jehovah.  Three  times  a  year  their  law  ordained  a  solemn  feast 
to  be  held  there,  grander  than  the  festivities  of  any  earthly  king. 
Troops  of  Jews  came  up  to  them  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  even 
from  northern  Galilee,  which  was  three  or  four  days'  journey  distant, 
and  from  foreign  lands,  where  emigrants  had  settled.  It  was  a  joyous 
crowd,  and  they  were  joyous  times.  Friends  who  had  been  long 
parted  met  once  more  together,  and  went  up  in  glad  companies  to  the 
house  of  their  God.  It  has  been  reckoned  that  at  the  great  feast,  that 
of  the  Passover,  nearly  three  millions  of  Jews  thronged  the  streets 
and  suburbs  of  the  Holy  City,  most  of  whom  had  offerings  and  sacri- 
fices to  present  in  the  temple ;  for  nowhere  else  under  the  blue  sky 
could  any  sacrifice  be  offered  to  the  true  God. 

Even  a  beloved  king  held  no  place  in  the  heart  of  the  Jew<:  heside 


1 8  .    THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE 

I  heir  temple.  But  Herod,  who  was  then  reigning,  was  hateful  to  the 
people,  though  he  had  rebuilt  the  temple  for  them  with  extraordinary 
splendor.  He  was  cruel,  revengeful,  and  cowardly,  terribly  jealous, 
and  suspicious  of  all  about  him,  so  far  as  to  have  put  to  death  his 
own  wife  and  three  of  his  sons.  The  crowds  who  came  to  the  feasts 
carried  the  story  of  his  tyranny  to  the  remotest  corners  of  his  king- 
dom. He  even  offended  his  patron,  the  emperor  of  Rome ;  and  the 
emperor  had  written  to  him  a  very  sharp  letter,  saying  that  he  had 
hitherto  treated  him  as  a  friend,  but  now  he  should  deal  with  him  as 
an  eivemy.  Augustus  ordered  that  a  tax  should  be  levied  on  the 
Jews,  as  in  other  conquered  countries,  and  required  from  Herod  a 
return  of  all  his  subjects  who  would  be  liable  to  the  tax. 

This  command  of  the  Roman  emperor  threw  the  whole  nation 
into  disturbance.  The  return  was  allowed  to  be  made  by  Herod,  not 
by  the  Romans  themselves,  and  he  proceeded  to  do  it  in  the  usual 
Jewish  fashion.  The  registers  of  the  Jews  were  carefully  kept  in  the 
cities  of  their  families,  but  the  people  were  scattered  throughout  the 
country.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to  order  every  man  to  go  to  the 
city  of  his  own  family,  there  to  answer  to  the  register  of  his  name 
and  age,  and  to  give  in  an  account  of  the  property  he  possessed. 
Besides  this,  he  was  required  to  take  an  oath  to  Caesar  and  the  king, — 
a  bitter  trial  to  the  Jews,  who  boasted,  years  afterward,  under  a  Roman 
governor,  "  We  are  a  free  people,  and  were  never  in  bondage  to  any 
man."  There  must  have  been  so  much  natural  discontent  felt  at  this 
requirement  that  it  is  not  likely  the  winter  season  would  be  chosen 
for  carrying  it  out.  The  best,  because  the  least  busy,  time  of  the  year 
^yould  be  after  the  olives  and  grapes  were  gathered,  and  before  the 
season  for  sowing  the  corn  came,  which  was  in  November,  The 
Feast  of  Tabernacles  was  held  at  the  close  of  the  vintage,  and  fell 
about  the  end  of  September  or  beginning  of  October.  It  was  the  most 
joyous  of  all  the  feasts,  and  as  the  great  national  Day  of  Atonement 
immediately  preceded  it,  it  was  probably  very  largely  attended  by  the 
nation ;  and  perhaps  the  gladness  of  the  season  might  in  some 
measure  tend  to  counteract  the  discontent  of  the  people. 

But  whether  at  the  Feast  of  the  Tabernacles,  or  later  in  the  year,  the 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  '9 

whole  Jewish  nation  was  astir,  marching  to  and  fro  to  the  cities  of 
their  families.  At  this  very  time  a  singular  event  befell  a  company 
of  shepherds,  who  were  watching  their  flocks  by  night  in  the  open 
plain  stretching  some  miles  eastward  from  Bethlehem,  a  small  village 
about  six  miles  from  Jerusalem.  Bethlehem  was  the  city  of  the  house 
of  David,  and  all  the  descendants  of  that  beloved  king  were  assem- 
bled to  answer  to  their  names  on  the  register,  and  to  be  enrolled  as 
Roman  subjects.  The  shepherds  had  not  yet  brought  in  their 
flocks  for  the  winter,  and  they  were  watching  them  with  more 
than  usual  care,  it  may  be,  because  of  the  unsettled  state  of  the 
country,  and  the  gathering  together  of  so  many  strangers,  not 
for  a  religious,  but  for  a  political  purpose,^  which  would  include 
the  lowest  classes  of  the  people,  as  well  as  the  law-loving  and 
law-abiding  Jews. 

No  doubt  this  threatened  taxing  and  compulsory  oath  of  subjection 
had  intensified  the  desire  of  the  nation  for  the  coming  of  the  Messiah. 
Every  man  desires  to  be  delivered  from  degradation  and  taxes,  if  he 
cares  nothing  about  being  saved  from  his  sins.  It  was  not  safe  to 
speak  openly  of  the  expected  Messiah ;  but  out  on  the  wide  plains, 
with  the  darkness  shutting  them  in,  the  shepherds  could  while  away 
the  long  chilly  hours  with  talking  of  the  events  of  the  passing  times, 
and  of  that  promised  king  who,  so  their  teachers  said  in  secret,  was 
soon,  very  soon  to  appear,  to  crush  their  enemies. 

But  as  the  night  wore  on,  when  some  of  them  were  growing 
drowsy,  and  the  talk  had  fallen  into  a  few  slow  sentences  spoken  from 
time  to  time,  a  light,  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  which  had  sunk 
jbelow  the  horizon  hours  ago,  shone  all  about  them  with  a  strange 
splendor.  As  soon  as  their  dazzled  eyes  could  bear  the  light,  they 
saw  within  it  a  form  as  of  an  angel.  Sore  afraid  they  were  as  they 
caught  sight  of  each  other's  faces  in  this  terrible,  unknown  glory. 
But  quickly  the  angel  spoke  to  them,  lest  their  terror  should  grow  too 
great  for  them  to  hear  aright. 

"  Fear  not,"  he  said,  "  for,  behold,  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of  great 
joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people.  For  unto  you  is  born  this  day  in 
the  city  of  David  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord      And  this  shall 


20  .  THE   WONDERFUL  IJFE. 

be  a  sign  unto  you :  Ye  shall  find  the  babe  wrapped  in  swaddling 
clothes,  lying  in  a  manger." 

Suddenly,  as  the  angel  ended  his  message,  the  shepherds  saw 
standing  with  him  in  the  glorious  light,  a  great  multitude  of  the 
blessed  hosts  that  people  heaven,  who  were  singing  a  new  song  undei 
the  silent  stars,  which  shone  dimly  in  the  far-off  sky.  Once  before 
"  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for 
joy"  because  God  had  created  a  world.  Now,  at  the  birth  of  a  child, 
in  the  little  village  close  by,  where  many  an  angry  Jew  had  lain  down 
to  a  troubled  sleep,  they  sang,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on 
earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men." 

The  sign  given  to  the  shepherds  served  as  a  guide  to  them.  They 
were  to  find  the  new-born  babe  cradled  in  the  manger,  with  no  softer 
bed  than  the  fodder  of  the  cattle.  Surely,  the  poorest  mother  in  the 
humblest  home  in  Bethlehem  could  provide  better  for  her  child. 
They  must,  then,  seek  the  Messiah,  just  proclaimed  to  them,  among 
the  strangers  who  were  sleeping  in  the  village  inn.  All  day  long  had 
parties  of  travelers  been  crossing  the  plain,  and  the  shepherds  would 
know  very  well  that  the  little  inn,  which  was  built  at  the  eastern  part 
of  the  village,  merely  as  a  shelter  for  such  chance  passers-by,  would 
be  quite  full.  It  was  not  a  large  building;  for  Bethlehem  was  too 
near  to  Jerusalem  for  many  persons  to  tarry  there  for  the  night, 
intead  of  pressing  forward  to  the  Holy  City.  It  was  only  on  such  an 
occasion  as  this  that  the  inn  was  likely  to  be  over-full. 

But  as  the  shepherds  drew  near  the  eastern  gate,  they  probably  saw 
the  glimmering  of  a  lamp  near  the  inn.  It  is  a  very  old  tradition 
that  our  Lord  was  born  in  a  cave ;  and  this  is  quite  probable.  If  the 
inn  were  built  near  to  a  cave,  it  would  naturally  be  used  by  the  trav- 
elers for  storing  away  their  food  from  the  heavy  night  dews,  although 
their  mules  and  asses  might  stay  out  in  the  open  air.  A  light  in  the 
cave  would  attract  the  shepherds  to  it,  and  there  they  found  Mary,  and 
Joseph,  and  the  babe  lying  in  a  manger.  A  plain  working  man,  like 
themselves,  his  wife,  and  a  helpless  new-born  child ;  how  strangely 
this  sight  must  have  struck  them,  after  the  glory  and  mystery  of  the 
vision  of  angels  they  had  just  witnessed  '     How  different  was  Mar>'f 


THE  ADORATION  OF  THE  MAGI.-Matt.  2:  11. 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT.-Matt.  2:  13. 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST  21 

tow,  hushed  voice  as  she  pointed  out  the  child  born  since  the  sun 
went  down,  from  that  chorus  of  glad  song,  when  all  the  heavenly  host 
sang  praises  to  God. 

A  strange  story  they  had  to  tell  Mary  of  the  vision  they  had  jus- 
seen.  She  was  feeling  the  first  great  gladness  and  joy  of  every 
mother  over  her  child  born  into  the  world,  but  in  Mary's  case  this  joy 
was  brightened  beyond  that  of  all  other  women,  yet  shadowed  by  the 
mystery  of  being  the  chosen  mother  of  the  Messiah.  The  shepherds' 
statement  increased  her  gladness,  and  lifted  her  above  the  natural 
feeling  of  dishonor  done  to  her  child  by  the  poor  and  lowly  circum- 
stances of  his  birth ;  whilst  they,  satisfied  with  the  testimony  of  their 
own  senses,  having  seen  and  heard  for  themselves,  went  away,  and 
made  known  these  singular  and  mysterious  events.  All  who  heard 
these  things  wondered  at  them ;  but  as  the  shepherds  were  men  of 
no  account,  and  Joseph  and  Mary  were  poor  strangers  in  the  place, 
we  may  be  sure  there  would  be  {^w  to  care  about  such  a  babe,  in  those 
days  of  vexation  and  tumult.  Had  the  Messiah  been  born  in  a  palace, 
and  the  vision  of  the  heavenly  host  been  witnessed  by  a  company  of 
the  priests,  the  whole  nation  would  have  centred  their  hopes  and 
expectations  upon  the  child ;  and  unless  a  whole  series  of  miracles 
had  been  worked  for  his  preservation  the  Roman  conquerors  would 
have  destroyed  both  him  and  them.  No  miracle  was  wrought  for  the 
infant  Christ,  save  that  constant  ministry  of  angels,  sent  forth  to  min- 
ister unto  Him  who  was  the  Captain  of  salvation,  even  as  they  are  sent 
forth  to  minister  for  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation. 


CHAPTER  III.— IN  THE  TEMPLE. 


dally  to  God. 


OSEPH  and  Mary  did  not  remain  in  the  cave 
longer  than  could  be  helped.  As  soon  as  the 
unusual  crowd  of  strangers  was  gone,  they 
found  some  other  dwelling-place,  though  not  in 
the  inn,  which  was  intended  for  no  more  than  a 
^  shelter  for  passing  travelers.  They  had  forty 
'  '^  days  to  wait  before  Mary  could  go  up  to  the 
temple  to  offer  her  sacrifice  after  the  birth  of  her 
child,  when  also  Joseph  would  present  him  to 
the  Lord,  according  to  the  ancient  law  that  every 
first-born  child,  which  was  a  son,  belonged  espe- 
Joseph  could  not  afford  to  live  in  idleness  for  six 
weeks ;  and  as  he  had  known  beforehand  that  they  must  be  detained 
in  Bethlehem  so  long,  he  probably  had  carried  with  him  his  carpen- 
ter's tools,  and  now  set  about  looking  for  work.  It  is  likely  that  both 
he  and  Mary  thought  it  best  to  bring  up  Jesus  in  Bethlehem,  where 
he  was  born ;  for  they  must  have  known  the  prophecy  that  out  of 
Bethlehem  should  come  the  Messiah.  It  was  near  to  Jerusalem,  and 
from  his  earliest  years  the  child  would  become  familiar  with  the 
temple,  and  its  services  and  priests.  It  was  not  far  from  the  hill 
country,  where  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth  were  living,  whose  son,  born 
jin  their  old  age,  was  still  only  an  infant  of  six  months,  but  whose 
future  mission  was  to  be  the  forerunner  of  the  Messiah.  For  every 
reason  it  would  seem  best  to  return  no  more  to  Nazareth,  the  obscure 
village  in  Galilee,  but  to  settle  in  Bethlehem  itself 

At  the  end  of  forty  days,  Mary  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  offer  her 
sacrifice,  and  Joseph  to  present  the  child,  and  pay  the  ransom  of  five 
shekels  for  him,  without  which  the  priests  might  claim  him  as  a  ser- 
vant to  do  the  menial  work  of  the  temple.  They  must  have  passed 
by  the  tomb  of  Rachel,  who  so  many  centuries  before  had  died  in 


23 


CHRIST  IN  THE  TEMPLE. 
"And  all  that  heard  Him  were  AstuNished  at  His  UN'DERSTANDiNn." — Lulic  2  :  47. 


'GET  THEE  HENCE,  SATAN."— Matt.  4:  10. 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  27 

giving  birth  to  her  son ;  and  Mary,  whose  heart  pondered  over  such 
things,  may  have  whispered  to  herself  as  she  clasped  her  child  closer 
to  her,  "  In  Rama  was  a  voice  heard ;  lamentation  and  weeping,  and 
great  mourning ;  Rachel  weeping  for  her  children,  and  would  not  be 
comforted,  because  they  are  not."  She  did  not  know  the  full  meaning 
of  those  words  yet ;  but,  amid  her  own  wonderful  happiness,  she  would 
sigh  over  Rachel's  sorrow,  little  thinking  that  the  prophecy  linked  it 
with  the  baby  she  was  carrying  in  her  arms. 

At  this  time  the  temple  was  being  rebuilt  by  Herod,  in  the  most 
costly  and  magnificent  manner,  but  we  will  keep  the  description  of  it 
until  twelve  years  later,  when  Jesus  came  to  his  first  passover.  Mary's 
offering  of  two  turtle-doves,  instead  of  a  lamb  and  a  turtle-dove, 
proves  the  poverty  of  Joseph,  for  only  poor  persons  were  allowed  to 
substitute  another  turtle-dove  or  young  pigeon  for  a  lamb.  These 
birds  abound  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  were  consequently  of  very  small 
value.  After  she  had  made  her  offering,  and  before  Joseph  presented 
the  child  to  the  Lord,  an  old  man,  dwelling  in  Jerusalem,  came  into 
the  temple.  It  had  been  revealed  to  him  that  he  should  not  see  death 
before  his  eyes  had  beheld  the  blessed  vision  of  the  Lord's  Christ,  for 
whom  he  had  waited  through  many  long  years.  Now,  seeing  this 
little  child,  he  took  him  into  his  arms,  and  blessed  God,  saying,  "  Lord^ 
now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen 
thy  salvation."  Whilst  Joseph  and  Mary  wondered  at  these  words, 
Simeon  blessed  them,  and  speaking  to  Mary  alone,  he  continued; 
'  i3ehold,  this  child  is  set  for  the  fall  and  rising  again  of  many  in 
Israel ;  and  for  a  ''■'^n  which  shall  be  spoken  against ;  (yea,  a  sword 
shall  pierce  through  thy  own  soul  also,)  that  the  thoughts  of  many 
'Hearts  may  be  revealed." 

This  was  the  first  word  of  sorrow  that  had  fallen  upon  Mary's  ears 
since  the  angel  had  appeared  to  her,  more  than  ten  months  before,  in 
her  lowly  home  in  Nazareth.  Hitherto,  the  great  mystery  that  set 
her  apart  from  all  other  women  had  been  full  of  rapture  only.  Her 
song  had  been  one  of  triumphant  gladness,  with  not  a  single  note  of 
sorrow  mingling  with  it.  Her  soul  had  magnified  the  Lord,  because 
he  had  regarded  her  low  estate ;  she  was  hungry',  and  he  had  filled 


28  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

her  with  good  things.  She  had  heard  through  the  countless  ages  of 
the  future  all  generations  calling  her  blessed.  A  new,  mysterious, 
tender  life  had  been  breathed  through  her,  and  she  had  been  over- 
shadowed by  the  Highest,  whose  shadow  is  brighter  than  all  earthly 
joys  and  glories.  Now,  for  forty  days  she  had  nursed  the  Holy 
Child,  and  no  dimness  had  come  across  her  rapture.  Yet,  when  she 
brings  the  child  to  his  Father's  house,  the  first  word  of  sorrow  is 
spoken,  and  the  first  faint  thrill  of  a  mother's  ready  fears  crept  coldl) 
into  her  heart. 

So  as  they  walked  home  in  the  cool  of  the  day  to  Bethlehem,  and 
passed  again  the  tomb  of  Rachel,  Mary  would  probably  be  pondering 
over  the  words  of  Simeon,  and  wondering  what  the  sword  was  that 
would  pierce  her  own  soul  The  first  prick  of  that  sharp  anguish  was 
soon  to  make  itself  felt. 

Besides  Simeon,  Anna,  a  very  aged  prophetess,  had  seen  the  child, 
and  both  spoke  of  him  to  them  that  looked  for  redemption  or  deliv- 
erance in  Jerusalem.  Quietly,  and  in  trusted  circles,  would  this  event 
be  spoken  of;  for  all  knew  the  extreme  danger  of  calling  the  attention 
of  Herod  to  such  a  matter.  They  were  too  familiar  with  the  cowardice 
and  cruelty  of  their  king  to  let  any  rumor  reach  him  of  the  birth  of 
the  Messiah.  It  does  not  appear,  moreover,  that  either  Simeon  or 
Anna  knew  where  he  was  to  be  found.  But  a  remarkable  circum- 
stance, which  came  to  pass  soon  after,  exposed  the  child  of  Bethlehem 
to  the  very  peril  they  prudently  sought  to  shield  him  from,  and 
destroyed  the  hopes  of  those  who  did  not  know  that  he  escaped  the 
danger. 


CHAPTER  IV.— THE  WISE  MEN. 

MONG  the  many  travelers  who  visited  Jerusalem, 
which  was  the  most  magnificent  city  of  the  East 
there  came  at  this  time  a  party  of  distinguished 
strangers,  who  had  journeyed  from  the  far  East 
They  were  soon  known  to  be  both  wise  and 
wealthy ;  men  who  had  given  up  their  lives  to 
learned  and  scientific  studies,  especially  that  of 
astronomy.  They  said  they  had  seen,  in  their  close 
,-  ,  .  and  ceaseless  scrutiny  of  the  sky,  a  new  star,  which,  for 
^.  f  some  reason  not  known  to  us,  they  connected  with  the 
^^      distant  land  of  Judsea,  and  called  it  the  star  of  the  King 

of  the  Jews. 
There  was  an  idea  spread  throughout  all  countries  at  that  time  that 
a  personage  of  vast  wisdom  and  power,  a  Deliverer,  was  about  to  be 
born  among  the  Jews.  These  wise  men  at  once  "^et  off  for  the  capital 
of  Judaea ;  for  where  else  could  the  King  of  the  Jews  be  born  ? 
Possibly  they  may  have  expected  to  find  all  the  city  astir  with 
rejoicings ;  but  they  could  not  even  get  an  answer  to  their  question, 
"Where  is  he?"  Those  who  had  heard  of  him  had  kept  the  £;ecret 
faithfully.  But  before  long  Herod  was  told  of  these  extraordinary 
strangers,  and  their  search  for  a  new-born  King,  who  was  no  child  of 
his.  He  was  an  old  man,  nearly  seventy,  and  in  a  wretched  state, 
both  of  body  and  mind ;  tormented  by  his  conscience,  yet  not  guided 
by  it,  and  ready  for  any  measure  of  cunning  and  cruelty.  All  Jeru- , 
salem  was  troubled  with  him,  for  not  the  shrewdest  man  in  Jerusalem 
could  guess  what  Herod  would  do  in  any  moment  of  rage. 

Herod  immediately  sent  for  all  the  chief  priests  and  scribes,  who 
came  together  in  much  fear  and  consternation,  and  demanded  of  them 
where  the  Messiah  should  be  born.  They  did  not  attempt  to  hesitate, 
or  conceal  the  birth-place.     If  any  of  them  had  heard  of  the  child  of 

29 


30  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

Bethlehem,  and  Simeon's  and  Anna's  statement  concerning  him,  their 
dread  of  Herod  was  too  powerful  for  them  to  risk  their  own  lives  in 
an  attempt  to  shield  him.  "  In  Bethlehem,"  they  answered  promptly 
Right  gl?d  would  they  be  when  Herod,  satisfied  with  this  information, 
dismissed  theux,  and  they  went  their  way  safe  and  sound  to  theii 
houses.  Thus  at  the  outset  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  proved 
themselves  unwilling  to  suffer  anything  for  the  Messiah,  whose  office 
it  was  to  bring  to  them  glory  and  dominion. 

Privately,  but  courteously,  Herod  then  sent  for  the  wise  men,  and 
inquired  of  them  diligently  how  long  it  was  since  the  star  appeared ; 
and  bade  them  seek  the  child  in  Bethlehem,  and  when  they  had  found 
him  to  bring  him  word,  that  he  might  go  and  do  homage  to  him  also. 
There  was  nothing  in  the  king's  manner  or  words  to  arouse  their 
suspicions  of  his  real  purpose,  and  no  doubt  they  set  out  for  Bethlehem 
with  the  intention  of  returning  to  Jerusalem. 

Still  it  appeared  likely  that  there  would  be  some  difficulty  in  dis- 
covering the  child,  of  whom  they  knew  nothing  certainly,  except  that 
they  were  to  search,  and  to  search  diligently,  for  him  in  Bethlehem. 
They  rejoiced  with  exceeding  great  joy,  therefore,  when,  as  they  left 
the  walls  of  Jerusalem  behind  them  in  the  evening  dusk,  they  saw  the 
star  again  hanging  in  the  southern  sky,  and  going  before  them  on 
their  way.  No  need  now  for  guides,  no  need  to  wander  up  and  down 
the  streets,  asking  for  the  new-born  King.  The  star,  or  meteor,  stood 
over  the  humble  house  where  the  young  child  was,  and,  entering  in, 
they  saw  him,  with  Mary,  his  mother,  and  fell  down,  doing  him  homage 
as  the  King  whose  star  was  even  now  shining  above  the  lowly  roof 
that  sheltered  him.  There  was  no  palace,  no  train  of  serv^ants,  no 
^uard,  save  the  poor  carpenter,  whose  day's  work  was  done,  and  who 
was  watching  over  the  young  child ;  but  they  could  not  be  mistaken. 
The  future  glorious  King  of  the  Jews  was  here. 

They  had  not  come  from  their  distant  country  to  seek  a  king  empty- 
handed.  Royal  presents  they  had  prepared  and  brought  with  them ; 
and  now  they  opened  their  treasures,  and  offered  costly  gifts  to  him, 
gold,  and  frankincense,  and  myrrh,  such  as  they  would  have  presented, 
had  they  found  the  child  in  Herod's  own  palace  in  Jerusalem.     Then, 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  31 

taking  their  leave,  they  were  about  to  return  to  Herod,  when  a  warning 
dream,  which  they  could  not  mistake  or  misinterpret,  directed  them  to 
depart  into  their  country  another  way. 

The  hour  was  at  hand  when  the  costly  gifts  of  the  wise  men  would 
DC  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  poor  little  family,  not  yet 
settled  and  at  home  in  its  new  quarters.  Even  as  a  babe  the  Son  o\ 
man  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head ;  and  no  spot  on  earth  was  a 
resting-place  for  him.  After  the  wise  men  were  gone,  the  angel  of  th€ 
Lord  came  to  Joseph  in  a  dream,  saying,  "  Arise,  take  the  young  child 
and  his  mother,  and  flee  into  Egypt,  and  be  thou  there  until  I  bring 
thee  word :  for  Herod  will  seek  the  young  child  to  destroy  him." 

Mary's  chilly  fears  then  were  being  realized,  and  she  felt  the  first 
prick  of  the  sword  that  should  pierce  her  soul.  The  visit  of  the  wise 
men  from  the  far  East  had  been  another  hour  of  exultation  and  another 
testimony  to  the  claims  of  her  Son.  Possibly  they  may  have  told  her 
that  the  king  himself  wished  to  come  down  from  Jerusalem,  and 
worship  him  ;  and  dreams  of  splendor,  of  kingly  and  priestly  protection 
for  the  infant  Messiah  might  well  fill  her  mind.  But  now  she  learned 
that  Herod  was  seeking  the  child's  life,  to  destroy  him.  They  could 
not  escape  too  quickly;  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  The  angels 
words  were  urgent,  "  Arise,  at  once." 

It  was  night ;  a  winter's  night,  but  there  must  be  no  delay,  fsy 
daybreak  the  villagers  would  be  astir,  and  they  could  not  get  awav 
unseen.  Before  the  gray  streak  of  light  was  dawning  in  the  east,  they 
ought  to  be  some  miles  on  the  road.  Mary  must  carry  the  child 
shielding  him  as  best  she  could  from  the  chilly  dampness  of  the  night 
and  Joseph  must  load  himself  with  the  wise  men's  gifts.  Little  had 
she  thought,  when  those  rich  foreigners  were  falling  down  before  her 
child  in  homage,  that  only  a  night  or  two  later  she  would  be  stealing 
with  him  through  the  dark  and  silent  streets,  as  if  she  was  a  criminal 
not  the  happy  mother  of  the  glorious  Messiah.  And  they  were  to  flee 
out  of  the  Holy  Land  itself,  into  Egypt,  the  old  land  of  bondage ! 

Unseen,  unnoticed,  the  flight  from  Bethlehem  was  made.  They 
were  but  strangers  there  ;  and  very  few,  if  any,  of  the  inhabitants  would 
niss  the  strangers  from  Nazareth,  who  had  settled  among  them  so 


32  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

lately,  and  who  had  now  gone  away  again  with  as  little  observation  as 
they  came. 

Herod  very  soon  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  wise  men,  for  some 
reason  or  other  unknown  to  him,  did  not  intend  to  obey  his  orders. 
They  could  very  well  have  made  the  journey  to  Bethlehem  in  a  day, 
and  when  he  found  that  they  did  not  return  to  him,  he  was  exceeding 
wroth;  for  kings  do  not  often  meet  with  those  who  disregard  their 
invitations.  He  quickly  make  up  his  mind  what  to  do.  If  the  wise 
men  had  brought  him  word  where  the  child  was,  he  would  have  been 
content  to  slay  only  him ,  now  he  must  destroy  all  the  infants  under 
two  years  of  age,  to  make  sure  of  crushing  that  life  which  threatened 
his  crown.  There  was  ample  margm  in  the  two  years  for  any  mistake 
on  his  own  part,  or  that  of  the  wise  men.  The  child  must  perish  if  he 
put  to  death  all  the  little  ones  of  the  unhappy  village. 

We  wonder  if  the  news  reached  Mary  in  her  place  of  refuge  and 
safety  in  Egypt.  Whilst  she  went  about  the  streets  of  Bethlehem 
she  must  have  seen  many  of  those  little  children  in  their  mothers' 
arms ;  their  laughter  and  their  cries  had  rung  in  her  ears ;  and  with 
her  newjy-opened  mother's  eyes  she  had  compared  them  with  her  own 
blessed  child,  and  loved  them  dearly  for  his  sake.  Now  she  would 
know  the  dire  meaning  of  these  words,  "  In  Rama  was  there  a  voice 
heard,  lamentation,  and  v/eeping,  and  great  mourning,  Rachel  weeping 
for  her  children,  and  would  not  be  comforted,  because  they  are  not " 
A  mystery  of  grief  began  to  mingle  itself  with  the  mystery  of  her 
Son's  life.  In  her  heart,  which  was  forever  pondering  over  the  strange 
events  that  had  already  befallen  him  and  herself,  there  must  always 
have  been  a  very  sad  memory  of  the  children  who  had  perished  on 
his  account ;  and  it  may  be  that  one  of  the  first  stories  her  lips  uttered 
to  the  little  Son  at  her  knee  was  the  story  of  their  winter's  flight  into 
Egypt,  and  the  slaying  of  all  the  children  under  two  years  of  age  who 
lived  in  Bethlehem,  the  place  where  he  was  born. 


CHAPTER  v.— NAZARETH. 

\/\        EROD  died  a  shocking  death,  after  terrible  suffer- 
■/^^     '^^,         ing  both  of  mind  and  body.     Once  even,  in  his 
>f"        *''        '  ;         extreme  misery,  he  attempted  to  put  an  end  to 
^'>,       ,  himself,  but  was  prevented  by  his  attendants. 

['^..    '  ''  A   few  days    only  before   he    died   he   put   to 

"d    Ik^'  ^^^^^^  ^^^  ^^'^  Antipater,  and  appointed  his  son 

^    >'#-,     ^'^^  .     Archelaus  to  succeed  him  as  king  in  Judaea; 

.3^     but  he   separated   Galilee   from   the   kingdom, 
i       ,         i'  and    left   it  to  another  son,   Herod  Antipas.     He 

jij   J  ~         was   in   his   seventieth   year  when   he    died,   after 

-//'..  reigning  thirty-seven  years;  one  of  the  most  wicked 
and  most  wretched  of  kings. 
It  was  now  safe  for  Joseph  and  Mary  to  bring  the  child  back  to 
their  native  land.  They  seem  to  have  had  the  idea  of  settling  in 
Judaea  again,  instead  of  taking  Jesus  to  the  despised  province  of 
Galilee;  but  when  they  reached  Judaea  they  heard  that  Archelaus 
reigned  in  the  room  of  his  father,  Herod,  and  that  during  the  pass- 
over  week  he  had  ordered  his  guards  to  march  into  the  temple  amid 
the  throng  of  worshippers,  where  they  had  massacred  three  thousand 
of  the  Jews.  Such  news  naturally  filled  them  with  terror,  and  they 
might  have  sought  safety  again  in  Egypt ;  but  Joseph  wa§  warned  in 
a  dream  to  go  on  into  the  land  of  Galilee.  He  was  left  to  choose  the 
exact  place  where  he  would  settle  down,  and  he  returned  to  Nazareth, 
his  and  Mary's  early  home,  where  their  kinsfolk  lived.  There  was 
every  reason  why  they  should  go  back  to  Nazareth,  since  Jesus  could 
not  be  brought  up  in  his  own  city,  the  mournful  little  village  of  Beth- 
lehem, where  no  child  of  his  own  age  was  now  alive. 

Here,  in  Nazareth,  they  were  at  home  again  ;  and  long  years  of  the 
most  quiet  blessedness  lay  before  the  mother  of  Jrsus,  though  the 
trifling  daily  cares  of  life  may  have  fretted  it  a  Tittle  f'^om  too  perfect 

33 


34  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

a  bliss  for  this  world.  The  little  child  who  played  about  her  feet,  who 
prattled  beside  her  as  she  went  down  to  the  fountain  for  water,  who 
listened  with  uplifted  eyes  to  every  word  she  spoke,  never  gave  her  a 
moment's  pain,  or  made  her  heart  ache  by  one  careless  or  unkind 
word.  Never  once  had  the  mothers  voice  to  chancre  its  tone  of 
tenderness  into  one  of  anger.  Never  had  a  frown  to  come  across  her 
loving  and  peaceful  face  when  it  was  turned  toward  him.  As  he  grew 
in  wisdom  and  favor  with  God  and  man,  she  could  rest  upon  that 
vvisdom  and  grace,  never  to  be  disappointed,  never  to  be  thrown  back 
upon  herself  The  most  blessed  years  ever  lived  by  woman  were 
those  of  Mary,  in  the  humble  home  in  Nazareth. 

It  lay  in  the  heart  of  the  mountains,  at  the  end  of  a  little  valley 
hardly  a  mile  long,  and  not  more  than  half  a  mile  broad,  with  the 
barren  slopes  of  hills  shutting  it  in  on  every  side.  The  valley  was  as 
green  and  fertile  as  a  garden ;  and  the  village  clung  to  the  side  of  one 
of  the  mountains,  half  nestling  at  its  foot.  From  the  brow  of  the 
hills  rising  behind  the  village  a  splendid  landscape  was  to  be  seen — 
westward  to  the  glistening  waters  of  the  Mediterranean,  with  Mount 
Carmel  stretching  into  them ;  northward  as  far  as  the  snowy  peaks  of 
Hermon ;  and  southward  over  the  great  plain  of  Jezreel,  rich  in  corn- 
fiel'ds ;  all  the  country  being  dotted  over  with  villages  and  towns. 
The  landscape  is  there  still,  and  the  deep  blue  sky  hanging  over  all, 
and  the  clear  atmosphere  through  which  distant  objects  seem  near,  and 
the  sighing  of  the  wind  across  the  plains,  and  the  hum  of  insects,  and 
the  songs  of  birds ;  all  is  as  it  was  when  Jesus  Christ  climbed  the 
mountains,  as  he  loved  to  do,  and  sat  on  the  summit,  with  a  heart 
and  spirit  in  full  harmony  with  the  loveliness  around  him,  and  with 
no  secret  sadness  of  the  conscience  to  make  him  feel  that  he  was  not 
worthy  to  be  there. 

It  was  no  lonely  life  that  Jesus  led.  We  read  again  and  again  of 
his  brethren  and  sisters ;  and  though  it  is  not  generally  thought  that 
these  could  have  been   Mary's   children,*  but   the   children  of  her 


*  I  agree  in  this  opinion,  chiefly  for  the  reason  that  when  Jesus  died  he  committed  Mary  to  the 
care  of  hij  young  disciple  John,  which  would  seem  unnatural  to  any  tender-hearted,  good  mother, 


^ 
--.> 


MAKE  NOT  MY  FATHER'S  HOUSE  AN  HOUSE  OF 
MERCHANDISE."-John  2:  16. 


CHRIST  AND  NICODEMUS. 

'Except  a  Man  be  Born  Again,  he  cannot  See  the  Kingdom  or  Goii." — John  3:  3. 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  37 

sister,  they  were  so  associated  with  him  that  all  his  life  long  they  acted 
as  his  own  brethren  and  sisters.  With  them  he  would  go  to  school 
and  learn  to  read  and  write,  for  all  Jews  were  carefully  educated  in 
these  two  branches  The  books  he  had  to  study  we  know  and  posses- 
in  the  Old  Testament.  Very  probably  he  would  own  one  of  them 
though  they  would  be  so  costly  as  to  be  almost  beyond  his  means,  or 
those  of  his  supposed  father.  We  should  like  to  know  that  he  had 
the  Book  of  Psalms,  those  psalms  which  Mary  knew  so  well  and  had 
sung  to  him  so  often ;  or  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  in  which  his  young, 
undimmed  eyes,  that  had  hardly  looked  upon  sorrow  yet,  and  had 
never  smarted  with  tears  of  penitence,  would  read  and  read  again  the 
warning  words  of  the  Messiah's  sufferings,  "a  man  of  sorrow,  and 
acquainted  with  grief"  When  he  was  alone  yonder  on  the  breezy  sum- 
mit of  the  mountain,  did  he  ever  sing,  "The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd?" 
And  did  he  never  whisper  to  himself  the  awful  words,  "  My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?" 

Besides  his  cousins  there  were  his  neighbors  all  about  him,  quite 
commonplace  people,  who  could  not  see  how  innocent  and  beautiful 
his  life  was.  They  were  a  passionate,  rough  race,  notorious  through- 
out the  country,  so  that  it  had  become  almost  a  proverb,  "  Can  any 
good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth?"  Jesus  dwelt  among  them  as  one 
of  them  ;  Joseph  the  carpenter's  son.  He  could  not  yet  heal  the  sick; 
but  is  there  no  help  and  comfort  in  tender  compassion  for  those  who 
suffer  ?  The  widow's  son  at  Nain  was  not  the  first  he  had  seen  carried 
out  for  burial.  The  man  born  blind  was  not  the  only  one  groping 
about  in  darkness  who  felt  his  hand,  and  heard  the  pitying  tones  of 
his  troubled  voice.  We  may  be  sure  that  among  his  neighbors  in 
Nazareth  Jesus  saw  many  a  form  of  suffering,  and  his  heart  always 
echoed  to  a  cry,  if  it  were  but  the  cry  of  an  animal  in  pain. 

In  one  other  way  Jesus  shared  the  common  lot  of  boys.  He  had 
to  take  to  a  trade  which  was  not  likely  to  have  been  his  choice 
Whether  as  the  eldest  son  of  a  large  family,  or  the  only  son  of  a 


who  had  at  least  four  other  sons  and  two  daughters  living.     Our  Lord  would  hardly  throw  so  much 
discredit  upon  such  relationships. 


38  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

woman  left  a  widow,  he  had  to  learn  the  trade  of  his  supposed  father. 
The  little  workshop,  where  neighbors  could  always  drop  in  with  their 
trifling  gossip,  or  at  work  in  their  own  houses,  where  they  could 
grumble  and  find  fault ;  this  must  have  been  irksome  to  him.  The 
long,  monotonous  hours,  the  insignificant  labor,  the  ceaseless  buzz  of 
chattering  about  him — we  can  understand  how  weary  and  worn  his 
spirit  must  have  felt,  as  well  as  his  body.  If  he  could  have  been  a 
shepherd,  like  Moses,  the  great  lawgiver,  and  David,  his  own  kingl}* 
ancestor,  how  far  more  fittinQ^  that  would  have  seemed !  How  his 
courage  and  tenderness  toward  his  flock  would  have  been  a  type  of 
what  he  would  be  in  after-life !  The  solitude  would  have  been  sweet 
to  him,  and  the  changing  aspects  of  the  seasons  from  year  to  year. 
In  after-life  he  often  compared  himself  to  a  shepherd,  but  never  once 
is  there  any  reference  to  his  uncongenial  calling  in  the  hot  workshop 
of  Nazareth,  where  the  only  advantage  was  that  it  did  not  separate 
him  from  his  mother. 

Does  a  blameless  life  win  favor  among  any  people  ?  There  was 
one  man  in  Galilee,  one  only  in  the  wide  world,  who  never  needed  to 
go  up  to  Jerusalem  to  offer  any  sacrifice  for  sin.  Neither  sin-offering 
nor  trespass-offering  had  this  man  to  bring  to  the  altar  of  God.  The 
peace-offering  he  could  eat  in  the  courts  of  the  temple  as  a  type  of 
happy  communion  with  the  unseen  God,  and  of  a  complete  surrender 
of  himself  to  his  will.  But,  let  the  people  scan  his  conduct  as  closely 
as  village  neighbors  can  do,  not  one  among  them  could  say  that  Jesus, 
the  son  of  Joseph,  had  need  to  carry  up  to  Jerusalem  an  offering  for 
any  trespass.  Did  they  love  him  the  better  for  this  ?  Did  he  find 
honor  among  them  ?     Nay,  not  even  in  his  father's  house. 


CHAPTER  VI.— THE  FIRST  PASSOVER. 


-^  '^  HERE  is  one  incident,  and  only  one,  given  to  us 

of  the  early  life  of  our  Lord. 

It  was  'the  custom  of  his  parents  to  go  up  to 
Jerusalem  once  a  year,  to  the  feast  of  the  pass- 
over.  For  the  Jews  living  in  Galilee  it  was  a 
long  journey;  but  the  feast  came  at  the  finest 
time  of  the  year  for  traveling,  after  the  rains  of 
winter,  and  before  the  dry  heat  of  summer.  It 
was  a  great  yearly  pilgrimage,  in  which  troops 
from  every  village  and  town  on  the  road  came 
to  swell  the  numbers  as  the  pilgrims  marched  southward.  Past  the 
cornfields,  where  the  grain  was  already  forming  in  the  ear ;  under  the 
mountain  slopes,  clothed  with  silvery  olive  trees  and  the  young 
green  of  the  vines ;  across  the  babbling  brooks,  not  yet  dried  by 
heat;  through  groves  of  sycamores  and  oak  trees  fresh  in  leaf, 
the  long  procession  passed  from  town  to  town ;  sleeping  safely  in 
the  open  air  by  night,  and  journeying  by  pleasant  stages  in  the 
day,  until  they  reached  Judaea ;  and,  weary  with  the  dusty  road  from 
Jericho  to  Jerusalem,  shouted  with  joy  when  they  turned  a  curve 
of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  saw  the  Holy  City  lying  before  them. 

Jesus  was  twelve  years  old  when,  probably,  he  first  made  this  long 
yet  joyous  march  up  to  Jerusalem.  We  can  fancy  the  eager  boy 
'going  on  before  them,"  as  he  did  so  many  years  later  when  he  went 
up  to  his  last  passover ;  hastening  forward  for  that  first  glorious  view 
of  Jerusalem,  which  met  his  eye  from  Olivet,  the  mount  which  was  to 
be  so  closely  associated  with  his  after-life.  There  stood  the  Holy 
City,  with  its  marble  palaces  crowning  the  heights  of  Zion ;  and  the 
still  more  magnificent  temple  on  its  own  mount,  bathed  in  the  brilliant 
light  of  the  spring  sunshine.  The  white,  wondrous  beauty  of  his 
Father's  house,  with  the  trembling  columns  of  smoke  ever  rising  from' 

39 


40  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

its  altars  through  the  clear  air  to  the  blue  heavens  above,  rose  opposite 
ro  him  We  know  the  hymn  that  his  tremulous,  joyous  lips  would 
smg,  and  that  would  be  echoed  by  the  procession  following"  hmi  a-- 
they  too  caught  sight  of  the  house  of  God  "How  amiable  are  ths 
tabernacles.  O  Lord  of  Hosts '  My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth 
tor  the  courts  of  the  Lord .  my  heart  and  my  flesh  cry  out  for,  ti^e 
living  God  !  "  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  pilgrims  had  chanted 
that  psalm,  before  him ;  but  never  one  like  that  boy  of  twelve,  when 
his  Father's  house  was  first  seen  by  his  happy  eyes. 

Perhaps  there  was  no  hour  of  perfect  happiness  like  that  to  Jesus 
again.  Joseph  M'as  still  alive,  caring  for  him  and  protecting  him. 
His  mother,  who  could  not  but  recall  the  strange  events  that  had 
accompanied  his  birth,  kept  him  at  her  side  as  they  entered  the  temple, 
pointing  out  to  him  the  splendor  and  the  sacred  symbols  of  the  place 
The  silvery  music  of  the  temple  service ;  the  thunder  of  the  aniens  of 
the  vast  congregations ;  the  faint  scent  of  incense  wafted  toward 
him ;  all  fell  upon  the  vivid,  delicate  senses  of  youth.  And  below 
these  visible  signs  there  was  breaking  upon  him  their  deep,  invisible, 
spiritual  meaning;  though  not  yet  darkened  with  the  shadow  of  thai 
awful  burden  to  be  laid  upon  himself,  when  he,  as  the  Lamb  of  God, 
was  to  take  away  the  sins  of  the  world.  This  was  the  time,  perhaps, 
when  "  he  was  anointed  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  his  fellows  " 
more  than  at  any  other  season  of  his  life. 

The  temple  had  been  rebuilt  by  Herod  in  the  vain  hope  of  winning 
popularity  among  his  people.  The  outer  walls  formed  a  square  of  a 
thousand  feet,  with  double  or  treble  rows  of  aisles  between  ranks  of 
marble  pillars.  These  colonnades  surrounded  the  first  court,  that  of 
the  Gentiles,  into  which  foreigners  might  enter,  though  they  were  for- 
bidden to  go  further  upon  pain  of  death.  A  flight  of  fifteen  steps  led 
from  this  court  into  that  of  the  women,  a  large  space  where  the  whole 
congregation  of  worshippers  assembled,  but  beyond  which  women 
were  not  allowed  to  go,  unless  they  had  a  sacrifice  to  offer.  The  next 
court  had  a  small  space  railed  off,  called  the  Court  of  Israel ;  but  the 
whole  bore  the  name  of  the  Court  of  the  Priests,  in  which  stood  a 
great  altar  of  unhewn  stones  forty-eight  feet  square,  upon  which  three 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  41 

fires  were  kept  burning  continually,  for  the  purpose  of  consuming  the 
sacrifices.  Beyond  these  courts  stood  the  actual  temple,  containing 
the  Holy  Place,  which  was  entered  by  none  but  a  few  priests,  who 
were  chosen  by  lot  daily;  and  the  Holiest  of  Holies,  open  only  to 
the  high-priest  himself,  and  to  him  but  once  a  year,  on  the  great  Day 
of  Atonement. 

It  was  here,  in  the  temple,  that  Jesus  loved  to  be  during  his  sojourn 
in  Jerusalem ;  but  the  feast  was  soon  ended,  and  his  parents  started 
homeward  with  the  returning  band  of  pilgrims.  Probably  Jesus  set 
off  with  them  from  the  place  where  they  had  lodged ;  and  they,  sup- 
posing him  to  be  with  some  of  his  young  companions,  with  his 
cousins  perhaps,  went  a  day's  journey  from  Jerusalem.  But  when  the 
night  fell,  and  they  sought  him  among  their  kinsfolk  and  acquaintance, 
he  was  nowhere  to  be  found.  A  terrible  night  would  that  be  for  both 
of  them,  but  especially  for  Mary,  whose  fears  for  him  had  been 
slumbering  during  the  quiet  years  at  Nazareth,  but  were  not  dead. 
Was  it  possible  that  any  one  could  have  discovered  their  cherished 
secret,  that  this  was  the  child  whom  the  wise  men  had  come  so  far  to 
see,  and  for  whom  Herod  had  slain  so  many  infants  in  Bethlehem  ? 
They  turned  back  to  Jerusalem,  seeking  him  in  sorrow.  It  was  the 
third  day  before  they  found  him.  Where  he  lived  those  three  days 
we  do  not  know.  Why  not  "  where  the  sparrow  hath  found  a  house, 
and  the  swallow  a  nest  for  herself?  "  It  was  in  the  temple  that  Joseph 
and  Mary  found  him ;  in  one  of  the  public  rooms  or  halls  opening 
out  of  the  court  of  the  Gentiles,  where  the  rabbis  and  those  learned  in 
the  law  were  wont  to  assemble  for  teaching  or  argument.  Jesus  was 
in  the  midst  of  them  asking  questions,  and  answering  those  put  to 
him  by  the  astonished  rabbis,  who  had  not  expected  much  under- 
standing from  this  boy  from  Galilee.  His  parents  themselves  were 
amazed  when  they  saw  him  there  ;  and  Mary,  who  seems  to  have  had 
no  difficulty  in  approaching  him,  spoke  to  him  chidingly. 

"  Son,"  she  said,  "  why  hast  thou  dealt  thus  with  us  ?  behold,  thy 
father  and  I  have  sougrht  thee  sorrowinsf." 

The  question  fell  upon  him  as  the  first  dimness  upon  the  glory  and 
dadness  of  his  soiourn  in  the  temple.     The  poor  home  at  Nazareth. 


42  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

his  father  Joseph,  the  carpenter's  shop,  the  daily  work,  pressed  back 
upon  him  in  the  place  of  the  temple  music,  the  prayer,  the  daily 
sacrifice.  There  they  stood,  his  supposed  father,  weary  with  the  long 
search,  and  his  mother  looking  at  him  with  sorrowful,  reproaching 
eyes.  He  was  ready  to  go  back  with  them,  but  he  could  not  go 
without  a  pang. 

"How  is  it  that  ye  sought  me?"  he  asked,  sadly;  "did  you  not 
know  that  I  must  be  in  my  Father's  house  ?  " 

But  he  had  not  come  to  this  earth  to  dwell  in  his  Father's  house ; 
and  he  must  leave  it  now,  only  to  revisit  it  from  time  to  time.  "  He 
went  down  with  them,  and  came  to  Nazareth,  and  was  subject  unto 
them :  but  his  mother  kept  all  these  sayings  in  her  heart." 

Eighteen  more  years,  years  of  monotonous  labor,  did  Jesus  live  in 
Nazareth.  Changes  came  to  his  home  as  well  as  to  others.  Joseph 
died,  and  left  his  mother  altogether  dependent  upon  him.  Galilee 
was  still  governed  by  Herod  Antipas ;  but  in  Judaea  the  King 
Archelaus  had  been  dethroned,  and  the  country  was  made  a  province 
of  Rome,  under  Roman  governors.  This  had  happened  whilst  Jesus 
was  a  boy,  and  a  rebellion  had  been  attempted  under  a  leader  callea 
Judas  of  Galilee,  which  had  caused  great  excitement.  Though  it  had 
been  put  down  by  the  Romans,  there  still  remained  a  party,  secretly 
popular,  who  used  every  effort  to  free  their  country  from  the  Roman 
yoke.  So  strong  had  grown  the  longing  for  the  Messiah,  that  a 
number  of  the  people  were  ready  to  embrace  the  cause  of  any  leader 
who  would  claim  that  title,  and  lead  them  against  their  enemies  and 
masters. 

There  was  a  numerous  class  of  his  fellow-countrymen  to  whom 
Jesus  must  have  been  naturally  drawn  during  his  youth,  and  to  whom 
he  may  have  attached  himself  for  a  time.  This  was  the  sect  of  the 
Pharisees,  noble  and  patriotic  as  our  Puritans  were,  in  the  beginning; 
and  at  all  times  living  a  frugal  and  devout  life,  in  fair  contrast  with 
the  Sadducees,  who  were  wealthy,  luxurious,  and  indifferent.  The 
Pharisees  were  mostly  of  the  middle  classes;  and  their  ceaseless 
devotion  to  religion  gave  them  great  authority  among  the  common 
people.     To  the  child  Jesus  they  must  have  appeared  nearer  to  Gcx^ 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  43 

than  any  other  class.  There  were  among  thenri  two  parties;  one 
following  a  rabbi  of  the  name  of  Hillel,  who  was  a  gentle,  cautious, 
tolerant  man,  averse  to  making  enemies,  and  of  a  most  merciful  and 
forgiving  disposition.  Some  say  that  he  began  to  teach  only  thirty 
/ears  before  the  birth  of  Christ;  and  it  is  certainly  among  his 
disciples  that  Jesus  found  some  friends  and  followers.  The  second 
party  was  that  of  Shammai,  who  differed  from  the  other  in  numberless 
ways.  They  were  well  known  for  their  fierceness  and  jealousy,  for 
stirring  up  the  people  against  any  one  they  hated,  and  for  shrinking 
from  no  bloodshed  in  furthering  their  religious  views.  They  were 
scrupulous  about  the  fulfilment  of  the  most  trivial  laws  which  had 
come  down  to  them  through  tradition.  These  had  grown  so  numerous 
through  the  lapse  of  centuries,  that  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  live  for 
an  hour  without  breaking  some  commandment. 

Yet  among  the  Pharisees  there  were  many  right-minded  and  noble 
men,  to  whom  Jesus  must  have  been  attracted  "The  only  true 
Pharisee,"  said  the  Talmud,  that  collection  of  traditions  which  they 
held  to  be  of  equal  authority  with  the  Scriptures — "  the  only  true 
Pharisee  is  he  who  does  the  will  of  his  Father  which  is  in  heaven 
because  he  loves  him."  Such  Pharisees,  when  he  met  with  them,  as 
he  did  meet  with  them,  won  his  love  and  approbation.  It  was  the 
••  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocritesl'  whom  he  hated. 


"FOLLOW  ME." 


BOOK  II. 

THE    PROPHBT, 


CHAPTER  I.— JOHN  THE  BAPTIST. 

ESUS  was  about  thirty  years  of  age  when  a  rumor 
reached  Nazareth  of  a  prophet  who  had  appeared 
in  Judaea.  It  was  more  than  four  hundred  years 
since  a  prophet  had  arisen  ;  but  it  was  well  known 
that  Elias  must  come  before  Messiah,  as  his  fore- 
runner. Such  a  prophet  was  now  baptizing  in 
Jordan;  and  all  Judaea  and  Jerusalem  itself  were 
sending  multitudes  to  be  baptized  by  him, 
/  ''  "  * l^^V  Before  long  his  name  was  known :  it  was  John, 
K      _    /  ^'  the  son  of  Elizabeth,  Mary's  cousin,  whose  birth 

had  taken  place  six  months  before  that  of  Jesus. 
We  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  any  person  living  at  this  time, 
except  Mary,  knew  Jesus  to  be  the  Son  of  God.  Those  who  had 
known  it  were  Joseph,  Zacharias,  and  Elizabeth ;  and  all  these  were 
dead.  John,  to  whom  we  might  suppose  his  parents  would  tell  the 
mysterious  secret,  says  expressly  that  he  did  not  know  him  to  be  the 
Messiah  until  it  was  revealed  to  him  from  heaven.  He  was  familiar 
with  his  cousin  Jesus,  and  felt  himself,  with  all  his  stern,  rigid  life  in 
the  wilderness,  to  be  unworthy  to  stoop  down  and  unloose  the  latchet 
of  his  sandals ;  although  he  was  a  priest,  who  was  known  throughout 
the  land  as  a  prophet,  and  Jesus  was  merely  a  village  carpenter,  whose 
life  had  been  a  common  life  of  toil  amidst  his  comrades,     Mary  alone 

45 


46  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

knew  her  son  to  be  the  promised  Messiah ;  and  though  the  long  years 
may  somewhat  have  dulled  her  hopes,  they  flamed  up  again  suddenly 
when  the  news  came  that  John  the  forerunner  had  begun  to  preach 
"The  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand,"  and  that  multitudes,  even  of  the 
Pharisees,  were  flocking  to  his  baptism,  so  to  enlist  themselves  as 
subjects  of  the  new  kingdom. 

But  this  news  did  not  make  any  change  in  our  Lord.  There  was 
not  less  tenderness  and  pity  in  his  heart  when  he  lived  among  his 
neighbors  in  Nazareth  than  when  he  healed  the  sick  who  came  to  him 
from  every  quarter.  Neither  was  there  any  more  ambition  in  his 
spirit  when  he  passed  from  town  to  town,  amid  a  throng  of  followers, 
than  when  he  climbed  up  into  the  loneliness  of  the  mountains  about 
his  village  home.  How  could  he  be  touched  by  any  earthly  ambition, 
who  knew  himself  to  be  not  only  a  Son  of  God,  but  the  only-begotten 
Son  of  the  Father  ?  He  had  been  waiting  through  these  quiet,  homely 
years  for  the  call  to  come,  and  now  he  was  ready  to  quit  all,  with  the 
words  in  his  heart,  "  Lo,  I  come :  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is 
written  of  me,  I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O  my  God  !  " 

It  may  well  be  that  Mary  went  with  him  a  little  way  on  his  road 
toward  Jordan,  on  that  wintry  morning,  when  he  quitted  his  work- 
shop, and  the  familiar  streets  of  Nazareth,  to  dwell  in  them  no  more. 
There  was  no  surprise  to  her  in  what  had  come  to  pass ;  but  there 
must  have  been  a  thrill  of  exultation  mingled  with  fear.  He  had  been 
her  son  all  these  years,  but  now  he  was  to  belong,  not  to  her,  but  to 
the  nation.  What  sorrow  and  triumph  must  have  been  in  her  heart 
when  at  last  he  bade  her  farewell,  and  she  watched  him  as  long  as  he 
was  in  sight,  clad  in  the  robe  she  had  woven  for  him  without  seam, 
like  the  robe  of  a  priest.  Was  he  not  a  priest  and  a  king  already 
to  her  ? 

It  was  winter,  and  although  not  cold  in  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  the 
heavy  and  continuous  rains  must  have  dispersed  the  multitudes  that 
had  gone  out  to  John,  leaving  him  almost  in  solitude  once  more. 
There  could  have  been  no  crowd  of  spectators  when  Jesus  was 
baptized.  Yet  even  in  January  there  are  mild  and  sunny  days  when 
he  and  John  might  have  gone  down  into  the  river  for  the  signifi- 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


4? 


cant  rite  which  was  to  mark  the  beginning  of  his  new  career.  But 
John  would  not  at  first  consent  to  baptize  his  cousin  Jesus,  declaring 
that  it  would  be  more  fit  for  himself  to  be  baptized  by  one  whose 
life  had  been  holier  and  happier  than  his  own.  The  rich  and  powerful 
and  pious  Pharisees  John  had  sent  away  with  rebukes,  yet  when  Jesus, 
came  from  Galilee,  he  forbade  him. 

But  Jesus  would  not  take  his  refusal.     For  some  months  John  hac 


'AND   WAS   WITH    THE  WILD    BEASTS."— Mark  i,  i: 


been  waiting  for  a  sign  promised  to  him  from  heaven,  which  shouk 
point  out  to  him  the  true  Messiah ;  and  the  people  of  the  land  looked 
to  him  to  show  them  the  Christ,  whose  kingdom  he  was  proclaiming. 
Now,  after  he  had  baptized  his  cousin  in  the  waters  of  the  Jordan, 
already  troubled  with  the  rains  from  the  mountains,  and  they  were 
coming  up  again  out  of  the  river,  he  saw  the  pale  wintry  sky  above 
them  opening,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  descending,  visible  to  his  eyes  in 


48  •  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

the  form  of  a  dove,  which  lighted  upon  Jesus,  whilst  a  voice  came  from 
heaven,  speaking  to  him,  and  saying,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased."  What  passed  between  them  further,  the 
Messiah  and  his  forerunner,  we  are  not  told.  Jesus  did  not  stay 
with  John  the  Baptist,  for  immediately  he  left  him  and  the  place  where 
he  had  been  baptized,  and  went  away  into  the  wilderness,  far  from  the 
busy  haunts  of  ordinary  men,  such  as  he  had  dwelt  among  until  now 
His  commonplace,  everyday  life  was  ended,  and  had  fallen  from  hin 
forever.  A  dense  cloud  of  mystery,  which  no  one  has  been  able  to 
pierce  through,  surrounds  the  forty  days  in  which  he  was  alone  in  the 
wilderness,  suffering  the  first  pangs  of  the  grief  with  which  he  was 
bruised  and  smitten  for  our  iniquities,  being  fiercely  assailed  of  the 
devil,  that  he  might  himself  suffer  being  tempted,  and  so  able  to  succor 
ill  those  who  are  tempted.  The  compassion  and  fellow-feeling  he  had 
before  had  for  sufferers  he  was  henceforth  to  feci  for  sinners.  There 
was  to  be  no  gulf  between  him  and  the  sinners  he  was  about  to  call 
to  repentance ;  he  was  to  be  their  friend,  their  companion,  and  it  was 
his  part  to  know  the  stress  and  strain  of  temptation  which  had 
overcome  them  Sinners  were  to  feel,  when  they  drew  near  to  him, 
that  he  knew  all  about  them  and  their  sins,  and  needed  not  that  any 
man  should  tell  him.  He  had  been  in  all  points  tempted  as  they  had 
been. 


'WHOSOEVER  DRINKETH  OF  THE  WATER  THAT  I  SHALL  GIVE  HIM 
SHALL  NEVER  THIRST."-John  4:  14. 


5f  -,   ^ 


CHRIST  HEALING  THE  SICK. 
•■He  Laid  His  Hands  on  Every  One  of  Them,  and  Healed  Them." — Luke  4  :  40. 


CHAPTER  II.— CANA  OF  GALILEE. 


HEN  Jesus  returned  to  Jordan  the  short 
winter  of  Palestine  was  over,  and  already 
an  eager  crowd  had  gathered  again  about 
John.  On  the  day  of  his  return  a  depu- 
tation from  the  Pharisees  had  come  from 
«jg,  ^  „  ^.  ,  Jerusalem  to  question  John  as  to  his 
v\\¥\    i  "     fer'"''L       authority   for   thus   baptizing   the    people. 

They  were  the  religious  rulers  of  the 
nation,  and  felt  themselves  bound  to 
inquire  into  any  new  religious  rite,  and  to 
ask  for  the  credentials  of  any  would-be 
These  priests  who  had  come  to  see  John 
knew  him  to  be  a  priest,  and  were,  probably,  inclined  to  take 
-(IS  part,  if  they  could  do  so  in  safety.  They  asked  him,  eagerly, 
Art  thou  Christ?"  "Art  thou  Elias?"  "Art  thou  that  prophet?" 
.A.nd  when  he  answered,  "  No,"  they  ask  again,  "  Who  art  thou  ? 
What  sayest  thou  of  thyself?"  The  crowd  was  listening,  and  Jesus, 
standing  amongst  them,  was  also  listening  for  his  reply.  "I  am  a 
voice,"  he  said,  "  the  voice  spoken  of  by  Isaiah  the  prophet,  crying 
in  the  wilderness.  Prepare  ye  the  ways  of  the  Lord."  The  priests 
were  disappointed  with  this  answer,  and  asked,  "  Why  baptizest  thou 
then  ? "  They  had  not  given  him  authority  to  appear  as  a  prophet, 
yet  here  he  was  drawing  great  multitudes  about  him,  and  publicly 
reproving  the  most  religious  sect  of  the  nation,  calling  them  a 
generation  of  vipers,  and  bidding  them  bring  forth  fruits  worthy 
of  repentance.  From  that  time  they  began  to  throw  discredit  upon 
the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  spoke  despitefully  against 
him,  saying,  "  He  hath  a  devil."  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  fling  a 
bad  name  at  those  who  are  not  of  our  own  way  of  thinking. 

Two  days  after  this,  John  the  Baptist  pointed  out  Jesus  to  two  of 

49 


50  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

his  disciples  as  the  Messiah  whose  corning  he  had  foretold.  These 
two,  Andrew  and  a  young  man  named  John,  immediately  followed 
Jesus,  and  being  invited  by  him  to  the  place  where  he  was  staying, 
they  remained  the  rest  of  the  day  with  him ;  probably  took  their  first 
meal  with  him,  their  hearts  burning  within  them  as  he  opened  the 
Scriptures  to  their  understanding.  The  next  morning  Andrew  met 
with  his  brother  Simon,  and  said,  "  We  have  found  the  Messiah,"  and 
brought  him  to  Jesus.  The  day  following,  Jesus  was  about  to  start 
home  again  to  Galilee,  and  seeing  Philip,  who  already  knew  him,  he 
said  to  nim,  "Follow  me!"  Simon  and  Andrew,  who  were  Philip's 
townsmen,  were  at  that  time  with  Jesus ;  Philip  was  ready  to  obey, 
but  he  first  found  Nathanael,  and  said  to  him,  "Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the 
son  of  Joseph,  is  he  of  whom  Moses  and  the  prophets  did  write  I " 
"  Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ? "  cried  Nathanael, 
doubtingly;  but  he  went  to  Jesus  and  was  so  satisfied  by  the  few 
words  he  spoke  to  him,  that  he  exclaimed,  "  Rabbi,  thou  art  the  Son 
of  God  ;  thou  art  the  King  of  Israel !  " 

With  these  five  followers  Jesus  turned  his  steps  homeward,  after  an 
absence  of  nearly  two  months.  All  of  them  lived  in  Galilee ;  and 
Simon  Peter  and  Andrew,  who  had  a  house  in  Capernaum,  at  the 
head  of  the  lake  of  Galilee,  appear  to  have  turned  off  and  left  the 
little  company  at  the  point  where  their  nearest  way  home  crossed  the 
route  taken  by  the  others.  Jesus  went  on  with  the  other  three: 
Philip,  whom  he  had  distinctly  called  to  follow  him ;  Nathanael, 
whose  home  in  Cana  of  Galilee  lay  directly  north  of  Nazareth;  and 
John,  who  was  hardly  more  than  a  youth,  and  as  yet  free  from  the  ties 
and  duties  of  manhood.  A  pleasant  march  must  that  have  been 
along  the  valleys  lying  south  of  Mount  Tabor,  with  the  spring 
sun  shining  overhead,  and  all  the  green  sward  bedecked  with  flowers, 
and  the  birds  singing  in  the  cool,  fragrant  air  of  morning  and 
evening. 

But  they  did  not  find  Mary  at  Nazareth.  She  was  gone  with  the 
cousins  of  Jesus  to  a  marriage  at  Cana  in  Galilee,  the  town  of 
Nathanael,  where  he  had  a  home,  to  which  he  gladly  urged  his  new- 
found rabbi  to  go.     He  could  not  have  foreseen  this  pleasure;   buf 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE  51 

now,  as  they  went  on  northward  to  Cana,  the  Messiah  was  his  guest, 

and,  with  Philip  and  John,  was  to  enter  into  his  house.  But  no 
sooner  was  it  known  that  they  were  come  into  the  village  than  Jesus 
was  called  with  his  friends,  one  of  whom  was  an  old  neighbor  of  the 
bridegroom,  to  join  the  marriage  feast. 

There  was  very  much  that  Mary  longed  to  hear  from  her  son  after 
this  long  absence-;  but  the  circumstances  could  not  have  been  favor- 
able for  it.  In  his  beloved  face,  worn  and  pale  with  his  forty  days  of 
temptation  and  fasting  in  the  wilderness,  her  eyes  saw  a  change  which 
told  plainly  that  his  new  life  had  begun  in  suffering.  He  looked  as 
if  he  had  passed  through  a  trial  which  set  him  apart.  Perhaps  he 
found  time  to  tell  her  of  his  hunger  in  the  desert,  and  the  temptation 
which  came  to  him  to  use  his  miraculous  powers  in  order  to  turn 
stones  into  bread  for  himself.  It  seems  that,  in  some  way  or  other, 
she  knew  that,  like  Elijah  and  Elisha,  the  great  prophets  of  olden 
times,  he  could  and  would  work  miracles  as  a  sign  to  the  people  that 
he  came  from  God ;  and  she  felt  all  a  mother's  eagerness  that  he 
should  at  once  manifest  his  glory. 

So  when  there  was  no  more  wine  she  turned  to  him,  hoping  for 
some  open  proof  to  the  friends  about  her  that  he  possessed  this 
wonder-working  power.  Besides,  she  had  been  accustomed  to  turn 
to  him  in  every  trouble,  in  any  trifling  household  difficulty ;  casting 
all  her  cares  upon  him,  because  she  knew  he  cared  for  her.  So  she 
said  to  him  quietly,  yet  significantly,  "  They  have  no  wine."  Some  of 
Elisha's  miracles  had  been  even  more  homely;  he  had  made  the 
poisoned  pottage  fit  for  food,  and  had  fed  a  company  of  people  with 
but  a  scanty  supply  of  barley-cakes.  Why  should  not  Jesus  gladden 
the  feast  and  save  his  friends  from  shame,  by  making  the  wine  last 
out  to  the  end?  ' 

A  few  days  before  our  Lord  had  been  in  the  desert,  amid  the  wild 
beasts,  with  the  devil  tempting  him.  Now  he,  who  was  to  be  in  all 
things  one  with  us,  was  sitting  at  a  marriage  feast  among  his  friends ; 
his  mother  and  kinsfolk  there,  with  his  new  followers;  every  face 
about  him  glad  and  happy.  It  was  not  the  first  marriage  he  had  been 
at,  for  his  sisters,  no  doubt,  were  married,  and  living  at  Nazareth ;  and 


52  THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE. 

he  knew  what  the  mortification  would  be  if  the  social  mirth  came  too 
suddenly  to  an  end.  He  cared  for  these  little  pleasures  and  little 
innocent  enjoyments,  and  would  not  have  them  spoiled.  The  miracle 
he  refused  to  work  to  satisfy  his  own  severe  hunger  he  wrought  for 
the  innocent  pleasure  of  the  friends  who  were  rejoicing  around  him. 
There  were  six  water-pots  of  stone  standing  by  for  the  use  of  the 
guests  in  washing  their  hands  before  sitting  down  to  the  table,  and  he 
bade  the  servants  first  to  fill  them  up  again  with  water  to  the  brim, 
and  then  to  draw  out,  and  bear  to  the  ruler  of  the  feast.  Upon 
tasting  it  he  cried  out  to  the  bridegroom,  "  Every  man  at  the 
beginning  doth  set  forth  good  wine ;  but  thou  has  kept  the  good  wine 
until  now." 

So  Christ  changes  water  into  wine,  tears  into  gladness,  the  waves 
and  floods  of  sorrow  into  a  crystal  sea,  whereon  the  harpers  stand, 
having  the  harps  of  God.  But  he  can  work  this  miracle  only  for  his 
friends ;  none  but  those  who  loved  him  drank  of  that  wine.  It  was 
no  grand  miracle  of  giving  sight  to  eyes  born  blind,  or  raising  to  life 
a  widow's  son.  Yet  there  is  a  special  fitness  in  it.  He  had  long 
known  what  poverty,  and  straitness,  and  household  cares  were,  and 
he  must  show  that  these  common  troubles  were  not  beneath  his 
notice ;  no,  nor  the  little  secret  pangs  of  anxiety  and  disappointment 
which  we  so  often  hide  from  those  about  us.  We  are  not  all  called  to 
bear  extraordinary  sorrows,  but  most  of  us  know  what  trifling  cares 
are ;  and  it  was  one  of  these  small  household  difficulties  the  Son  of 
man  met  by  his  first  miracle. 

After  this,  Jesus,  with  his  mother,  and  brethren,  and  disciples,  went 
down  to  Capernaum  for  a  few  days,  until  it  was  time  to  go  on  their 
yearly  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  to  the  feast  of  the  passover,  which  was 
near  at  hand.  Peter  and  Andrew  were  living  there,  and  might  join 
them  in  their  journey  to  Judaea ;  though-  they  do  not  seem  to  have 
stayed  with  our  Lord,  but  probably  returned  after  the  passover  to 
their  own  home  until  he  considered  it  a  fit  time  to  call  them  to  leave 
all  and  follow  him. 


WEDDING    FEAST  AT  CANA. 


S3 


CHAPTER   111.— THE  FIRST  SUMMEK. 

OR   the   first  time  Jesus   went   up   to  Jerusalem 

with  his  little  band  of  followers,  who  knew  him 

to  be  the  Messiah ;  and  his  cousins,  who  did  not 

yet  believe  in    him,  but  were   apparently   willing 

to   do   so   if  he  would  act  as  they  expected   the 

Messiah  to  act.     If  he  would  repeat  his   miracle 

on   a   large   scale,   and   so  convince  the  mass  of 

the   people,  they  were  ready  enough  to  proclaim 

p-^«m  »"^.  him  as  the  Messiah. 

\  ,     ^'*'      Would  not  John  the  Baptist  be  there  too?     He  as 

a  priest,  and  as  a  prophet,  would  no  doubt  be  looked 
for,  as  Jesus  afterwards  was,  at  the  feast  of  the  passover. 
He  must  have  had  a  strong,  impetuous  yearning  to  see  him  who 
had  been  pointed  out  to  him  as  the  Lamb  of  God  that  should  take 
away  the  sin  of  the  world.  Maybe  he  ate  the  paschal  supper  with 
Jesus  and  his  disciples.  We  fancy  we  see  him,  the  well-known 
hermit-prophet  from  the  wilderness,  in  his  robe  of  camel's  hair,  with 
its  leathern  girdle,  and  his  long,  shaggy  hair,  and  weather-beaten 
face,  following  closely  the  steps  of  Jesus,  through  the  streets,  and 
about  the  courts  of  the  temple,  listening  to  his  words  with  thirsty 
ears,  and  calling  himself  "the  friend  of  the  bridegroom,  which 
standeth  and  heareth  him,  rejoicing  greatly  because  of  the  bride- 
groom's voice."  It  was  the  last  passover  John  the  Baptist  would 
ever  celebrate ;  though  that  he  could  not  know. 

Upon  going  up  into  the  temple,  Jesus  found  the  court  of  the 
Gentiles  thronged  with  sheep,  and  oxen,  and  doves,  animals  needed 
for  the  sacrifices,  but  disturbing  the  congregation,  which  assembled 
in  the  court  of  the  women,  by  their  incessant  lowing  and  cooing. 
Money-changers  were  sitting  there  also ;  for  Roman  coins  were  now 
in  common  use  insteai  of  the  Jewish  money,  which  alone  was  lawful 

55 


56  THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE. 

for  payment  in  the  temple.  No  doubt  there  was  a  good  deal  of  loud 
ind  angry  debate  round  the  tables  of  the  money-changers ;  and  a 
disgraceful  confusion  and  disorder  prevailed.  Jesus  took  up  a  scourge 
of  small  cords,  and  drove  out  of  the  temple  the  noisy  oxen  and  sheep, 
bidding  the  sellers  of  the  doves  to  carry  them  away.  The  tables  ol 
the  money-changers  he  overturned ;  and  no  one  opposed  him,  but 
conscious  of  the  scandal  they  had  brought  upon  the  temple,  they 
retreated  before  him  "  Make  not  my  Father's  house  a  house  of 
merchandise,"  he  said  To  him  it  was  always  his  "Father's  house;" 
and  before  he  could  manifest  forth  his  glory,  his  Father  must  first  be 
glorified.  The  disciples,  looking  upon  his  face,  remembered  that  it 
had  been  written,  "The  zeal  of  thine  house  hath  eaten  me  up." 

But  the  priests  and  Levites  of  the  temple,  to  whom  this  traffic 
brought  much  profit,  were  not  so  easily  conscience-pricked  as  the 
merchants  had  been.  They  could  not  defend  the  wrong  practices,  but 
they  came  together  to  question  the  authority  of  this  young  stranger 
from  Galilee.  If  John  the  Baptist  had  done  it,  probably  they  would 
not  have  ventured  to  speak,  for  all  the  people  counted  him  a  prophet. 
But  this  was  a  new  man  from  Galilee !  The  Jews  held  the  Galileans 
in  scorn,  as  only  little  better  than  the  Samaritans  "  What  sign  shewest 
thou,"  they  ask,  "  seeing  that  thou  doest  such  things  ?  "  The  things 
were  signs  themselves — the  mighty,  prevailing  anger  of  the  Lord,  and 
the  smitten  consciences  of  the  merchants — if  they  had  not  been  too 
blind  to  see  them.  Jesus  gave  them  a  mysterious  answer,  which  none 
could  understand  "Destroy  this  temple,"  he  said,  "and  in  three  days 
I  will  raise  it  up."  What  I  were  they  to  pull  down  all  they  most  prided 
in,  and  trusted  in :  their  temple,  which  had  been  forty  and  six  years  in 
building  I  They  left  him,  but  they  treasured  up  his  words  in  then 
memories.  The  disciples  also  remembered  them,  and  believed  them 
when  the  mysterious  sign  was  fulfilled. 

But  Jesus  did  not  seek  to  convince  the  people  without  signs,  and 
signs  which  they  could  understand.  He  worked  certain  miracles  in 
Jerusalem  during  the  week  of  the  feast,  which  won  a  degree  of  faith 
from  many.  But  their  faith  was  not  strong  and  true  enough  for  him 
to  trust  to  it,  and  he  held  himself  aloof  from  them      What  they  loc  ked 


^    ^ 


"BUT  A  CERTAIN  SAMARITAN  HAD  COMPASSION  ON  H1M."-Luke  10:  33. 


YOUNG  MAN,  1  SAY   UNTO  THEE,  ARISE."— Luke  7:  14. 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  5/ 

for  was  an  earthly  king,  who  should  plot  and  conspire  for  the  throne; 

and  the  Roman  soldiers,  who  garrisoned  the  strong  fortress  which 
overlooked  the  temple,  would  not  have  borne  the  rumor  of  such  ^ 
king.  There  was  at  all  times  great  danger  of  these  expectatiori 
reaching  the  ears  of  Pontius  Pilate,  the  Roman  governor,  who  was  noi 
a  man  to  shrink  from  needless  bloodshed.  For  the  sake  of  the  people 
themselves  Jesus  did  not  commit  himself  unto  them. 

Amongst  those  who  heard  of  the  miracles  he  had  wrought  was  one 
of  the  Pharisees,  a  member  of  the  great  religious  committee  among 
them  called  the  Sanhedrim.  His  name  was  Nicodemus,  and  he  came 
to  our  Lord  by  night,  to  inquire  more  particularly  what  he  was  teaching. 
Jesus  told  him  more  distinctly  than  he  had  yet  done  what  his  new 
message  to  the  Jews  and  to  the  whole  world  was :  "  For  God  so  loved 
the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only-beg-otten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  Nicodemus  went 
away  strongly  impressed  with  the  new  doctrine,  though  not  prepared  to 
give  up  all  for  its  sake,  and  not  yet  called  upon  to  do  so.  But  from 
that  time  Jesus  had  a  firm  friend  in  the  very  midst  of  the  Pharisees, 
who  used  his  powerful  influence  to  protect  him ;  and  the  feast  passed 
by  without  any  further  jealous  interference  from  the  priests. 

But  it  was  not  quite  safe  or  suitable  to  remain  in  Jerusalem ;  and 
after  the  greater  number  of  their  friends  and  kinsmen  had  returned 
home,  Jesus,  with  two  or  three  of  his  disciples,  sought  the  banks  of 
the  Jordan,  whither  John  the  Baptist  had  already  returned.  The 
harvest  was  beginning,  for  it  was  near  the  end  of  April,  and  bands  of 
harvesters  passed  to  and  fro  from  uplands  to  lowlands  until  all  the 
corn  was  gathered  in  by  the  end  of  June.  Down  in  the  valley  of 
the  Jordan  the  summer  is  very  hot ;  and  the  wants  of  life  are  few 
They  could  sleep  in  the  open  air,  or  in  some  hut  of  branches  rudely 
woven  together ;  and  their  food,  like  John  the  Baptist's,  cost  little  or 
nothing.  There  was  to  be  no  settled  home  henceforth  for  any  one 
of  them.  The  disciples  had  left  all  to  follow  the  Son  of  man,  and 
he  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head. 

Crowds  of  eager  and  curious  followers  came  to- Jesus,  as  the  year 
before  they  had  flocked  to  John  the  Baptist,  who  had  now  moved 

4 


58  THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE. 

some  miles  further  up  the  river,  and  was  still  preaching  "  The  kingdom 
of  God  is  at  hand."  But  John  did  no  miracle,  and  the  crowds  that 
followed  Jesus  were  greater  than  those  who  followed  him.  In  the 
eyes  of  the  Pharisees  it  must  have  seemed  that  the  two  prophets  were 
in  rivalry ;  and  many  a  jest  and  a  sneer  would  be  heard  in  the  temple 
courts  and  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  as  they  talked  of  those  "  two- 
fanatics  "  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan.  Even  John  the  Baptist's  disciples 
fancied  that  a  wrong  was  done  their  rabbi  by  this  new  teacher,  who 
had  been  with  him  for  a  while,  and  so  learned  his  manner  of  arousing 
and  teaching  the  people.  They  went  to  John,  and  said,  "  Rabbi,  he 
that  was  with  thee  beyond  Jordan,  to  whom  thou  bearest  witness, 
behold,  the  same  baptizeth,  and  all  men  come  unto  him." 


FRUIT  OF   PALESTINE. 


Now  was  Johns  opportunity  to  manifest  a  wonderful  humility  and 
devotion.  "  I  am  of  the  earth,  earthy,  and  speak  of  the  earth,"  he 
'  >aid  ;  "  he  that  cometh  from  heaven  is  above  all.  The  Father  loveth 
the  Son,  and  hath  given  all  things  into  his  hands.  I  am  but  the 
friend  of  the  bridegroom ;  I  stand  and  hear  him,  and  rejoice  greatly 
because  of  his  voice.     This  my  joy  therefore  is  fulfilled." 

Did  he  hear  that  voice  often,  and  rejoice  in  it  ?  There  were  not 
many  miles  separating  them,  and  both  of  them  were  hardy  and  used 
to  long  marches.  It  may  well  be  that  during  those  summer  months' 
they  met  often  on  the  banks  of  the  river — the  happiest  season  ol 
John's  life.     For  he  had  been  a  lonely,  unloved  man,  living  a  wild  life 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


59 


in  the  wilderness,  strange  to  social  and  homelike  ways ;  nis  father  and 
mother  long  since  dead,  with  neither  brother  nor  sister,  he  would  find 
in  Jesus  all  the  missing  relationships,  and  pour  out  to  him  the  richest 
treasures  of  a  heart  that  no  loving  trust  had  opened  until  now. 

So  the  summer  passed  away,  and  the  autumn  with  its  vintage ;  then 
the  rainy  months  drew  near.  Bands  of  harvestmen  and  bands  of 
pilgrims  had  gone  by,  tarrying  for  a  few  hours  to  learn  truths  they  had 
never  heard  before,  even  in  the  temple.  Many  of  them  were  baptized 
by  the  disciples,  though  Jesus  baptized  not.  The  new  prophet  had 
become  more  popular  than  the  old  prophet,  and  John's  words  were 
fulfilled,  "  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease." 


CHAPTER  IV.— SAMARIA. 

HERE  were  several  reasons  why  our  Lord  should 
leave  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  besides  that  of 
the  rainy  season  coming  on.  The  Pharisees 
were  beginning  to  take  more  special  notice  of 
him,  having  heard  that  he  had  made  more  dis- 
ciples even  than  John,  whom  they  barely  toler- 
ated. Moreover,  this  friend  and  forerunner  of 
his  had  been  seized  by  Herod,  the  tetrarch  of 
Galilee,  and  cast  into  a  dreary  prison  on  the 
east  of  the  Dead  Sea.  This  violent  measure 
was  likely  to  excite  a  disturbance  among  the  people;  and  Jesus, 
whose  aim  was  in  no  way  to  come  into  collision  with  the  govern- 
ment, could  not  prudently  remain  in  a  neighborhood  too  near  the 
fortress  where  John  was  imprisoned.  He  therefore  withdrew  from 
the  Jordan,  in  the  month  of  December  or  January,  having  been  in 
Judaea  since  the  feast  of  the  passover  in  the  spring. 

One  way  to  his  old  home,  the  place  where  his  relatives  were  still 
living,  lay  through  Samaria,  a  country  he  had  probably  never  crossed, 
as  the  inhabitants  were  uncivil  and  churlish  toward  all  Jewish  travel- 


6o  THE   WONDERFUL  LIFR. 

crs,  especially  if  their  faces  were  toward  Jerusalem.  But  Jesus  was 
journeying  to  Galilee,  and  did  not  expect  them  to  be  actively  hostile 
to  him  and  his  little  band  of  companions.  It  was  an  interesting  road, 
and  led  him  through  Shechem,  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  the  world 
lying  between  Mount  Ebal  and  Mount  Gerizim,  in  a  vale  so  narrow  ai 
the  eastern  end,  that  when  the  priests  stood  on  these  mountains 
to  pronounce  the  blessings  and  the  curses  in  the  ears  of  all  the 
children  of  Israel,  there  was  no  difficulty  for  the  people  standing 
in  the  valley  to  hear  distinctly.  Two  miles  away  was  a  very  deep 
well,  the  waters  of  which  were  cool  in  the  hottest  summer;  a  well 
dug  by  the  patriarch  Jacob  upon  the  same  parcel  of  a  field  where 
he  built  his  first  altar  to  the  God  of  Israel.  Here  too  were  buried 
the  bones  of  Joseph,  which  had  been  carried  for  forty  years  through 
the  wilderness  to  the  land  his  father  Jacob  had  given  to  him  and  to 
his  children  specially.  Shiloh  also  lay  along  the  route ;  and  Jesus, 
who  possessed  every  innocent  and  refined  taste,  must  have  enjoyed 
passing  through  these  ancient  places,  so  intimately  connected  with 
the  early  history  of  his  nation. 

Shechem  lay  about  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  distant  from  the  fords 
of  Jordan,  near  which  we  suppose  Jesus  to  have  been  dwelling.  By 
the  time  he  and  his  disciples  reached  Jacob's  well,  after  this  long 
morning's  march,  it  was  noonday,  and  he  was  wearied,  more  wearied 
than  the  rest,  who  appear  always  to  have  been  stronger  than  he  was. 
They  left  him  sitting  by  the  side  of  the  well,  whilst  they  went  on  into 
the  city  to  buy  food  for  their  mid-day  meal.  Their  Master  was  thirsty, 
but  the  well  was  deep,  and  they  had  nothing  to  draw  up  the  water 
They  hastened  on,  therefore,  eager  to  return  with  food  for  him  whorr. 
they  loved  to  minister  to. 

Not  long  after  a  Samaritan  woman  came  to  draw  water,  and  was 
much  astonished  when  this  Jew  asked  her  to  give  him  some  to  drink. 
She  was  probably  less  churlish  than  a  man  would  have  been,  though 
she  was  barely  civil.  But  as  Jesus  spoke  with  her  she  made  the 
discovery  that  he  was  a  prophet ;  and  immediately  referred  to  him  the 
most  vexing  question  which  separated  the  Jews  from  the  Samaritans. 
The  latter  had  a  temple  upon  Mount  Gerizim,  which  had  been  rebuilt 


THE  Wise  and  the  foolish  virgins. 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  '  63 

by  Herod,  as  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  had  been ;  and  she  asked  which 
is  the  place  where  men  ought  to  worship  ?  Here,  or  at  Jerusalem  ? 
She  could  only  expect  one  answer  from  a  Jew ;  an  answer  to  excuse 
her  anger,  and  send  her  away  from  the  well  without  satisfying  his 
thirst.  But  Jesus  had  now  forgotten  both  thirst  and  weariness.  He 
knew  that  many  a  sorrowful  heart  had  prayed  to  God  as  truly  from 
Mount  Gerizim  as  from  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  There  is  no  specia' 
place,  he  answered,  for  in  every  place  men  may  worship  the  Father 
the  true  worshippers  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  for  God  is  £ 
Spirit.  This  was  no  such  answer  as  the  woman  looked  for ;  and  her 
next  words  were  spoken  in  a  different  temper.  "  We  are  looking  for 
the  Messiah,  as  well  as  the  Jews,"  she  said,  "  and  when  he  is  come,  he 
will  tell  us  all  things  that  we  do  not  yet  know."  Jesus  had  already 
told  her  the  circumstances  of  her  own  life,  and  she  was  looking  at  him 
wistfully,  with  this  thought  of  the  Messiah  in  her  mind,  when  he  said 
to  her  more  plainly,  more  distinctly,  perhaps,  than  he  had  ever  done 
before  to  any  one,  "  I  that  speak  to  thee  am  he." 

By  this  time  the  disciples  had  come  back,  and  were  much  astonished 
to  find  him  talking  to  the  woman.  If  they  heard  these  last  words 
they  would  marvel  still  more,  for  Jesus  generally  left  men  to  discover 
his  claims  to  the  Messiahship.  The  wrong  impression  prevailing 
among  the  Jews  concerning  the  Messiah  was  not  shared  by  the 
Samaritans.  The  latter  kept  closely  to  the  plain  and  simple  law 
of  Moses,  without  receiving  the  traditions  which  the  Pharisees  held 
of  equal  importance  with  the  law,  and  were  thus  more  ready  to 
understand  the  claims  and  work  of  Christ.  The  woman  therefore 
hurried  back  to  the  city,  leaving  her  water-pot,  and  called  together 
the  men  of  the  place  to  come  out  and  see  if  this  man  were  not 
the  Christ.  They  besought  him  to  stay  with  them  in  their  ancient  city 
under  the  Mount  of  Blessing;  and,  no  doubt  very  much  to  the 
amazement  of  his  disciples,  he  consented,  and  abode  there  two  days, 
spending  the  time  in  teaching  them  his  doctrine,  the  very  inner 
meaning  of  which  he  had  already  laid  open  to  the  woman.  "  God 
is  a  Spirit;  he  is  the  Father,  whom  every  true  worshipper  may 
worship  in  the  recesses  of  his  own  spirit."     Many  of  them  believed, 


64  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

and  said  to  the  woman,  "  We  have  heard  him  ourselves,  and  know 
that  this  is  indeed  the  Christ,  f/ie  Saviour  of  the  worlds  Wonderful 
words,  which  filled  the  heart  of  Christ  with  rejoicing.  Not  his  own 
nation,  not  his  own  disciples,  not  even  his  own  kinsmen,  had  learned 
so  much  of  his  mission  as  these  Samaritans ;  ever  afterward  he  spoke 
of  them  with  tenderness,  and  when  he  would  take  a  type  to  himself  in 
ihe  parable  of  the  man  fallen  among  thieves,  he  chose  not  a  Jew,  but 
1  despised  Samaritan. 

From  Sychar  Jesus  passed  through  one  of  the  long  deep  valleys 
vvhich  lead  to  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  where  he  was  once  more  in 
Galilee.  It  was  winter,  and  the  snow  was  glistening  on  the  lowei 
mountains,  as  well  as  upon  the  distant  range  of  Lebanon.  The  heavy 
rains  had  swollen  the  brooks  into  floods  ;  and  all  the  great  plain 
before  him,  which  in  four  months'  time  would  be  ripe  for  harvest,  a 
-ea  of  golden  grain,  scarcely  rippled  by  a  gust  of  wind,  was  now  lying 
n  wintry  brownness  and  desolation,  and  swept  by  the  storms  of  hail 
ind  rain.  He  seems  to  have  passed  by  Nazareth,  staying,  if  he  stayed 
at  all,  for  a  few  hours  only,  and  to  have  gone  on  with  Nathanael  to 
his  home  in  Cana,  where  Jesus  had  many  friends,  especially  the  bride- 
groom whose  marriage-feast  in  the  spring  he  had  made  glad  with  no 
common  gladness. 

He  had  not  been  long  in  Cana  before  the  streets  of  the  little  village 
witnessed  the  arrival  of  a  great  nobleman  from  Capernaum,  who  had 
heard  of  the  fame  of  Jesus  in  Judasa,  and  the  miracles  he  had  wrought 
there.  Until  now,  with  the  exception  of  Nicodemus,  it  would  seero 
that  none  but  people  of  his  own  class  had  sought  him,  or  brought 
their  sick  to  be  healed  by  him.  But  this  nobleman  had  a  son,  whose 
ife  all  the  skill  of  the  Jewish  physicians  could  not  save ;  and  his  last 
lope  lay  with  Jesus.  His  faith  could  not  grasp  more  than  the  idea 
hat  if  Jesus  came,  like  any  other  physician,  to  see  and  touch  the  child, 
ne  would  have  the  power  to  heal  him.  "  Sir,  come  down,"  he  cried, 
'  before  my  son  is  dead."  "  Go  thy  way,"  Jesus  answered  ;  "  thy  son 
iiveth."  What  was  there  in  his  voice  and  glance  which  filled  the 
father's  heart  with  perfect  trust  and  peace  ?  The  nobleman  did  not 
hurry  away,  though  there  was  time  for  him  to  reach  home  before  night- 


NINETY  AND  NINF" 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  ^7 

fall.  But  the  next  day,  as  he  was  going  down  to  Capernaum,  he  met 
his  servants,  who  had  been  sent  after  him  with  the  good  news  that  the 
fever  had  left  his  son  yesterday  at  the  seventh  hour ;  that  same  hour 
when  Jesus  had  said  to  him,  "  Thy  son  Hveth." 

Now  he  had  a  friend  and  disciple  among  the  wealthiest  and  highest 
classes  in  Capernaum,  as  he  had  one  among  the  Sanhedrim  at  Jeru- 
salem. Both  protected  him  as  much  as  it  lay  in  their  power ;  and  it 
is  supposed  by  many  that  the  mother  of  the  child  thus  healed  was  the 
same  as  Joanna,  the  wife  of  Chuza,  Herod's  steward,  who,  with  other 
women,  attended  our  Lord  during  the  last  year  of  his  life,  and  min- 
istered to  him  of  their  substance.  Thus,  on  every  hand,  Jesus  was 
making  friends  and  enemies.  A  year  had  scarcely  passed  since  he 
quitted  his  humble  home  in  Nazareth;  but  his  name  was  already 
known  throughout  Judaea,  Galilee,  and  Samaria ;  and  everywhere 
people  were  ranging  themselves  into  two  parties,  for  and  against  him. 
Among  the  common  people  he  had  few  enemies ;  among  the  wealthy 
and  religious  classes  he  had  few  friends.  He  felt  the  peculiar  diffi- 
culty these  latter  classes  had  in  following  him ;  and  expressed  it  in 
two  sayings,  "  I  came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repent- 
ance," and  "It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  pass  through  the  eye  of  a 
needle  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 


CHAPTER  v.— THE  FIRST  SABBATH  MIRACLE. 


FTER  staying  a  short  time  in  Cana,  Jesus  went 
once  more  to  Jerusalem,  about  the  middle  of 
March,  a  month  or  so  before  the  passover.  At 
this  time  there  was  a  feast  of  the  Jews,  not  a 
religious,  but  rather  a  national  feast,  in  celebra- 
tion of  the  deliverance  of  their  race  in  the  days 
of  Esther.  It  drew  together  many  of  the  poorer 
and  lower  classes,  among  whom  our  Lord's  work 
specially  lay,  and  so  offered  to  him,  perhaps,  unusual 
opportunities  for  mingling  with  the  common  people,  living 
near  Jerusalem.  For  we  do  not  suppose  that  the  Galileans 
went  up  to  this  feast;  only  the  country-folks  dwelling  in 
Judaea,  within  a  few  miles  of  their  chief  city,  w'ho  could  make  a 
holiday  at  that  time  of  the  year.  Either  upon  the  feast-day  itself, 
or  the  Sabbath  day  nearest  to  it,  Jesus  walked  down  to  the  sheep- 
..^ate  of  the  city,  near  which  was  a  pool,  possessing  the  singular 
property,  so  it  was  believed,  of  healing  the  first  person  who  could 
get  into  it  after  there  had  been  seen  a  certam  troubling  of  the  water 
A  great  crowd  of  impotent  folk,  of  halt,  blind  and  withered,  lay  about 
waiting  for  this  movement  of  the  surface  of  the  pool.  There  was  no 
spot  in  Jerusalem  where  we  could  sooner  expect  to  find  our  L^rd, 
with  his  wondrous  power  of  healing  all  manner  of  diseases.  Not 
^-ven  his  Father's  house  was  more  likely  to  be  trodden  by  his  feel 
dian  this  Bethesda,  or  house  of  mercy.  Probably  there  was  a  greater 
throng  than  usual,  because  of  the  feast,  which  would  offer  an 
opportunity  to  many  to  come  out  of  the  country.  Jesus  passed  by 
until  he  singled  out  one  man,  apparently  because  he  knew  he  had 
now  been  crippled  for  thirty-eight  years,  and  had  been  so  friendless 
that  during  all  that  time  he  had  no  man  to  help  him  to  get  down 
first   to   the   water.     The   cripple   was   hopeless,   but  still   lingered 

68 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHttlST.  69 

there,  as  if  to  watch  others  win  the  blessing  which  he  could 
nevet  reach. 

Upon  this  miserable  man  Jesus  looked  down  with  his  pitying  eyes 
and  said,  as  though  speaking  to  one  who  would  not  hesitate  to  obe) 
him,  "  Rise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk" 

It  seems  as  though  Jesus  passed  on,  and  was  lost  in  the  crowd ;  but 
the  cripple  felt  a  strange  strength  throbbing  through  his  withered 
iimbs.  He  was  made  whole,  and  he  took  up  his  bed,  to  return  home, 
if  he  had  any  home,  or  at  least  to  escape  from  that  suffering  multitude. 
Then  did  the  Pharisees  behold  the  terrible  spectacle  of  a  man  carrying 
his  bed  through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  on  the  Sabbath  day  I  They 
cried  to  him  hastily,  "  It  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  carry  thy  bed  on  the 
Sabbath  day,"  He  answered  them  by  telling  the  story  of  his  miracu- 
lous cure,  though  he  did  not  know  who  the  stranger  was,  for  Jesus  was 
gone  away.  No  doubt  he  put  his  burden  down  at  the  bidding  of  the 
Pharisees,  but  he  did  not  lose  the  new  strength  that  had  given  him 
power  to  take  it  up. 

The  same  day  Jesus  found  him  in  the  temple,  whither  he  had  gone 
in  his  gladness  Once  more  those  pitying,  searching  eyes  were  fixed 
upon  him,  and  the  voice  that  had  spoken  to  him  in  the  morning 
sounded  again  in  his  ears»  "  Behold,"  said  Jesus,  "  thou  art  made 
whole ;  sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  come  unto  thee."  The  man 
departed  and  told  the  Pharisees  who  it  was  that  had  made  him  whole, 
thinking,  no  doubt,  to  bring  praise  and  glory  to  his  deliverer. 

Possibly  until  now  the  presence  of  Jesus  at  this  feast  had  not  been 
known  to  the  Pharisees,  The  last  time  he  was  in  Jerusalem  he  had 
solemnly  and  emphatically  claimed  the  temple  as  his  Father's  house 
and  had  indirectly  reproved  them  by  assuming  the  authority  to  rid  it 
of  the  scandals  they  had  allowed  to  creep  into  it.  Now  they  found 
him  deliberately  setting  aside  one  of  their  most  binding  rules  for 
keeping  the  Sabbath.  John  the  Baptist,  though  both  priest  and 
prophet,  had  never  ventured  so  far  Their  religion  of  rites  and  cere- 
monies, of  traditions,  of  shows  and  shams,  was  in  dansren  With  their 
religion,  they  firmly  believed  their  place  and  nation  would  go,  and 
Jerusalem  and  Judasa  would  become  like  the  heathen  cities  and  coun- 


70  THE   WONDERFUL  UFR 

tries  about  them.  It  was  time  to  put  a  stop  to  it  John  the  Baptist 
was  in  prison.  What  if  Jesus  of  Nazareth  could  be  slain  quietly,  so 
as  not  to  disturb  the  common  people,  who  heard  him  gladly  ? 
•  Jesus  then,  forewarned,  it  may  be,  by  a  friend,  found  himself  com- 
pelled to  quit  Jerusalem  hastily,  instead  of  sojourning  there  till  the 
coming  passover.  He  was  now  too  well  known  in  the  streets  of  the 
city  to  escape  notice.  More  than  this,  if  he  stayed  until  the  Galileans 
came  up  to  the  feast,  there  would  be  constant  danger  of  his  followers 
coming  into  collision  with  the  Pharisees.  Riots  in  Jerusalem  at  the 
time  of  the  feasts  were  not  uncommon,  and  often  ended  in  bloodshed. 
Not  long  before,  Pilate  had  slain  eighteen  Galileans  in  some  tumult 
in  the  temple  courts ;  and  there  was  every  probability  that  some  such 
calamity  might  occur  again  should  any  provocation  arise. 

Jesus,  therefore,  retreated  from  Jerusalem  with  a  few  friends  who 
were  with  him.  He  had  not  yet  chosen  his  band  of  twelve  apostles, 
but  John,  the  youngest  and  dearest  of  them  all,  was  with  him,  for  it  is 
he  alone  who  has  given  us  this  record  of  the  first  year  of  our  Lord's 
ministry.  Philip,  also,  we  suppose  to  have  been  his  disciple  from  the 
first,  in  obedience  to  the  call,  "Follow  me;"  for  Jesus  seems  to  have 
been  particularly  grieved  with  his  dulness  of  mind,  when  he  says  to 
him,  "  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  Philip,  and  yet  hast  thou 
not  known  me?"  Moreover,  when  Jesus  was  next  at  Jerusalem  for 
the  passover,  those  Greeks  who  wished  to  see  him  came  and  spoke  to 
Philip  as  being  best  known  as  the  attendant  of  our  Lord.  Whether 
there  were  other  disciples  with  him,  or  who  they  were,  we  do  not 
know.  It  was  a  little  company  that  had  lived  together  through  eleven 
months,  most  of  which  had  been  spent  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan, 
in  a  peaceful  and  happy  seclusion,  save  for  the  multitudes  that  came 
to  be  taught  the  new  doctrine,  or  to  be  healed  of  their  afflictions. 
Now  they  were  to  be  persecuted,  to  have  spies  lurking  about  them,  to 
be  asked  treacherous  questions,  to  have  perjured  witnesses  ready  to 
swear  anything  against  them,  and  to  feel  from  day  to  day  that  their 
enemies  were  powerful  and  irreconcilable.  With  a  sad  foresight  of 
what  must  be  the  end,  our  Lord  left  Jerusalem  and  returned  into 
Galilee. 


CHAPTER  VI.— HIS  OLD  HOME. 


ESUS  came  to  Nazareth,  where  he  had  been 
brought  up.  His  aunt,  Mary  Cleophas,  was  still 
living  there  with  her  children,  if  his  mother  was 
not.  The  old  familiar  home  was  the  same,  and 
the  steep,  narrow  streets  of  the  village  in  which 
he  had  played  and  worked.  Coming  down  to  it 
from  the  unfriendly  city  of  Jerusalem,  it  seemed 
like  a  little  nest  of  safety,  lying  among  its 
r  -  pleasant  hills.     Here,  at  least,  so  his  disciples 

K  might  think,  they  would  find  repose  and  friend- 

ship ;  and  the  soreness  of  heart  that  must  have 
followed  the  knowledge  that  the  Jews  sought  to  slay  their  Master 
would  here  be  healed  and  forgotten. 

The  Sabbath  had  come  round  again ;  a  week  since  he  had  given 
strength  to  the  cripple.  It  was  his  custom  to  go  to  the  synagogue  on 
the  Sabbath ;  and  the  congregation  w^hich  met  there  had  been  familiar 
with  him  from  his  childhood,  when  he  went  with  his  supposed  father, 
Joseph.  The  rabbi,  or  ruler,  could  not  but  have  known  him  well. 
These  rulers  of  the  synagogue  had  a  certain  power  of  both  trying  and 
scourging  heretics  in  the  place  itself  They  could  also  excommunicate 
them,  and  lay  a  curse  upon  them ;  and  Jesus  knew  that  they  would 
'  lot  be  averse  to  exercising  their  power.  But  now  he  went  to  his 
iccustomed  place,  looking  round  wath  a  tender  yearning  of  his  heart 
toward  them  all ;  from  those  who  sat  conspicuously  in  the  chief  seats, 
to  the  hesitating,  inquisitive  villager,  seldom  seen  in  the  congregation, 
who  crept  in  at  the  door  to  see  what  was  going  on. 

For  all  the  people  of  Nazareth  must  have  been  filled  wath  curiosity 
that  day.  Their  townsman  had  become  famous ;  and  they  longed  to 
see  him,  and  to  witness  some  miracle  wrought  by  him.  Almost  al- 
had  spoken  to  him  at  one  time  or  another ;  many  had  been  brought 

71 


72  THE   WONDERFUL' LIFE. 

up  with  him,  and  had  been  taught  by  the  same  schoolmaster.  They 
lad  never  thought  of  him  as  being  different  from  themselves,  except 
perhaps  that  no  man  could  bring  an  evil  word  against  him ;  a  stupen- 
dous difference  indeed,  but  not  one  that  would  win  him  much  favor 
^et  here  he  was  among  them  again,  after  a  year's  absence  or  so,  and 
throughout  all  the  land,  even  in  Jerusalem  itself,  he  was  everywhere 
known  as  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth. 

When  the  time  came  for  the  Scriptures  to  be  read,  Jesus,  either 
called  by  the  minister,  or  rising  of  his  own  accord,  stood  up  to  read. 
It  must  have  been  what  all  the  congregation  wished  for.  The  low 
platform  near  the  middle  of  the  building  was  the  best  place  for  all  to 
see  him  ;  their  eyes  were  fastened  upon  him,  and  their  satisfaction  was 
still  greater  when  he  sat  down  to  teach  them  from  the  words  he  had 
just  read.  They  were  astonished  at  the  graciousness  of  his  words 
and  manner,  and  before  he  could  say  more  than,  "  This  day  is  this 
Scripture  fulfilled  "  they  began  whispering  to  one  another,  "  Is  not  this 
Joseph's  son  ?" 

There  is  nothing  strange  or  unnatural  in  this  conduct,  nor  indeed 
anything  very  blamable.  It  is  precisely  what  would  take  place  among 
ourselves  now  under  the  same  circumstances.  Jesus  was  grieved, 
though  we  cannot  suppose  him  to  have  been  disappointed.  He  knew 
they  wanted  to  see  him  do  something  like  what  he  had  done  in  Caper- 
naum. His  sinless  life  had  been  neither  a  sign  nor  a  wonder  to  them  ; 
so  blind  were  they,  and  so  hard  of  heart.  But  if  he  would  do  some 
astonishing  work  they  would  believe  in  him.  "  No  prophet  is  ac- 
cepted in  his  own  country,"  he  said,  and  leaving  the  verses  he  was 
about  to  explain  to  them,  he  went  on  to  remind  them  that  both  Elijah 
and  Elisha,  their  wonder-working  prophets  of  olden  times,  had  passed 
over  Jewish  sufferers  to  bestow  their  help  on  Gentiles.  They  could 
not  miss  seeing  the  application.  If  they  rejected  him,  he  would  turn 
to  the  Gentiles. 

A  sudden  and  violent  fury  seized  upon  all  who  were  in  the  syna- 
gogue. This  threat  came  from  the  carpenter's  son !  They  rose  up 
with  one  accord  to  thrust  him  out  of  the  village.  As  they  passed 
along  the  streets  the  whole  population  would  join  them,  and  their 


73 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE.  75 

madness  growing  stronger,  they  hurried  him  toward  a  precipice  near 
the  town,  that  they  might  cast  him  down  headlong.  But  his  brethren 
and  disciples  were  there,  and  surely  among  the  people  of  Nazareth  he 
had  some  friends  who  would  protect  him  from  so  shocking  a  death  at 
the  hands  of  his  townsmen.  He  passed  through  the  angry  crowd, 
and  went  his  way  over  the  green  hills,  which  not  long  before  had 
seemed  to  promise  him  rest  and  shelter  from  his  bitter  foes.  He  had 
been  accused  of  breaking  the  Sabbath  seven  days  ago ;  who  was 
breaking  the  Sabbath  now  ?  The  full  time  was  come  for  all  this  for- 
malism of  worship  to  be  swept  away,  and  for  Christ  to  proclaim  him- 
self Lord  also  of  the  Sabbath.  Did  Jesus  linger  on  the  brow  of  that 
eastern  hill  looking  down  upon  the  village  which  nestled  at  the  foot 
of  the  cliff?  So  quiet  it  lay  there,  as  if  no  tumult  could  ever  enter 
into  it.  The  little  valley,  green  and  fresh  in  the  cool  spring-time, 
was  bright  with  flowers,  like  a  garden  amid  the  mountains.  He  had 
loved  this  narrow  glen  as  only  children  can  love  the  spot  where  they 
first  grow  conscious  of  the  beauty  of  the  world  around  them.  Here 
his  small  hands  had  plucked  his  first  lilies,  more  gorgeously  appareled 
than  Solomon  in  all  his  glory.  Here  he  had  seen  for  the  first  time 
the  red  flush  in  the  morning  sky,  and  the  rain-clouds  rising  out  of  the 
west,  and  had  felt  the  south  wind  blow  upon  his  face.  Upon  yonder 
housetops  he  had  watched  the  sparrows  building;  and  upon  these 
mountains  he  had  considered  the  ravens.  The  difference  between  now 
and  then  pressed  heavily  upon  him ;  and  as  he  wept  over  Jerusalem, 
he  may  have  wept  over  Nazareth.  No  place  on  earth  could  be  the 
same  to  him ;  and  when  he  lost  sight  of  it  behind  the  brow  of  the  hill, 
he  went  on  sadly  and  sorrowfully  toward  Capernaum. 


CHAPTER  VII.— CAPERNAUM. 

HOUGH  Galilee  was  somewhat  larger  than  Judaea, 
It  was  in  reality  but  a  small  province,  not  more 
than  seventy  miles  in  length,  or  thirty  in  breadth. 
This  again  was  divided  into  Upper  and  Lower 
Galilee ;  the  latter  called  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles. 
The  district  in  which  Jesus  worked  most  of  his 
miracles,  and  went  preaching  from  town  to  town, 
was  very  small  indeed,  a  circuit  of  a  few  miles 
tending  south  and  west  of  Capernaum,  which  for 
a  short  time  now  became  his  home.  This  part 
of  Galilee  is  a  lovely  country,  abounding  in  flowers  and  birds ;  and 
at  his  time  it  was  thickly  populated,  with  small  towns  or  villages 
lying  near  one  another,  and  farm-houses  occupying  every  favorable 
situation.  The  lake  or  sea  of  Galilee  is  about  thirteen  miles  long, 
six  broad,  and  all  the  western  shore  was  fringed  with  villages  and 
hamlets.  Nowhere  could  Jesus  have  met  with  a  more  busy  stir  of 
life.  Not  only  Jews  dwelt  in  this  region,  but  many  Gentiles  of  all 
nations,  especially  the  Roman  and  Greek.  His  ministry  in  Judaea,  it 
the  Pharisees  had  suffered  him  to  remain  in  Judaea,  would  not  have 
been  so  widely  beneficial  as  in  this  province,  where  the  people  were 
less  in  bondage  to  Jewish  customs  and  ritualism. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  alike  begin  tho 
history  of  our  Lord's  work.  What  we  have  so  far  read  has  been  re  4 
corded  for  us  in  John's  gospel  alone,  with  the  exception  of  the  visit  to 
Nazareth,  which  we  learn  from  Luke.  Jesus  had  already  some  friends 
and  believers  in  Capernaum.  There  was  the  nobleman  whose  son  he 
had  healed  several  weeks  before.  There  were  Andrew  and  Peter,  to 
whom  he  had  been  pointed  out  by  John  the  Baptist  as  the  Lamb  of 
God.  It  was  quickly  noised  abroad  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  come 
to  the  town,  and  multitudes  flocked  together,  though  it  was  no  holy 
76 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  77 

day,  to  hear  the  words  he  had  to  teach  them  from  God  They  found 
him  upon  the  shore  of  the  lake,  and  in  order  that  al)  might  see  and 
hear  him,  he  entered  into  a  boat  belonging  to  Peter,  and  asked  him  to 
push  out  a  little  from  the  bank  It  was  early  in  the  morning  of  the 
day  after  he  had  been  thrust  out  of  his  own  village ;  and  now,  sitting 
in  the  boat  with  a  great  multitude  of  eager  listeners  pressing  down  to 
the  water's  edge,  he  spoke  to  them  the  gracious  words  which  the 
people  of  Nazareth  would  not  hear. 

The  sermon  was  soon  over,  for  the  listeners  were  working  men,  and 
had  their  trades  to  follow.  Jesus  then  bade  Peter  to  put  out  into  the 
deep  waters,  and  let  down  his  net  for  a  draught.  Peter,  who  must  have 
heard  of  the  miracles  that  Jesus  wrought,  though  he  had  never  seen 
one,  seems  to  have  obeyed  without  expecting  much  success  But  the 
net  enclosed  so  many  fishes  that  it  began  to  break,  and  his  own  boat, 
as  well  as  that  belonging  to  his  partners,  John  and  James,  became 
dangerously  full  No  sooner  had  Peter  reached  the  shore,  where  Jesus 
was  still  standing,  than,  terrified  at  his  supernatural  power,  he  fell  at 
his  feet,  crying,  "  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord." 
"Follow  me,"  answered  Jesus,  "and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men," 
Andrew  and  Peter  immediately  forsook  all  to  attach  themselves 
closely  to  Jesus;  and  the  same  morning  John  and  James  left  their 
father  Zebedee  for  the  same  purpose. 

The  next  Sabbath  day,  which  was  probably  not  a  weekly  but  a  legal 
Sabbath,  coming  earlier  than  the  end  of  the  week,  Jesus  entered  the 
synagogue  at  Capernaum  with  his  band  of  followers,  four  of  whom 
were  well  known  in  the  town.  The  synagogue  here  was  a  much 
larger  and  more  imposing  place  than  the  one  at  Nazareth ;  and  no 
doubt  it  would  be  filled  with  a  congregation  as  crowded  and  attentive 
Whilst  Jesus  was  teaching  them,  an  unlooked-for  interruption  came, 
not  this  time  from  the  fury  of  his  listeners,  but  from  the  outcry  of  a 
poor  man  possessed  of  a  devil,  who  had  come  in  with  the  congregation 
Jesus  rebuked  the  evil  spirit,  and  the  man  was  cast  down  in  the  midst 
of  the  synagogue  in  convulsions,  with  the  people  crowding  round  to 
help.  But  when  the  devil  had  come  out  of  him  the  man  himself  was 
uninjured  and  in  his  right  mind.     Such  a  miracle,  in  such  a  place, 


78  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

spread  far  and  wide,  and  with  great  swiftness,  for  all  who  had  seen  it 
wrought  would  be  eager  to  speak  of  it. 

At  noon  Jesus  went  with  Peter  to  his  house  for  the  usual  mid-day 
meal.  Here  he  healed  the  mother  of  Peter's  wife  of  a  great  fever  so 
thoroughly  that,  feeling  neither  languor  nor  weakness,  she  arose  and 
waited  upon  them.  In  the  afternoon  probably  he  went  to  the  syna- 
gogue service  again,  to  be  listened  to  more  eagerly  than  ever. 

We  can  imagine  the  stir  there  would  be  throughout  Capernaum  thai 
afternoon.  Fevers  were  very  prevalent  in  the  spring  and  autumn,  and 
it  is  not  likely  that  Peter's  mother  was  the  only  sufferer  There  was  no 
one  there  as  yet  to  cavil  at  miracles  being  worked  on  the  Sabbath-day ; 
still  the  people  waited  until  the  sun  was  set,  and  then  in  the  brief  twi- 
light a  long  procession  threaded  the  streets  to  the  house  v/here  Jesus 
was  known  to  be,  until  all  the  city  was  gathered  about  the  door.  And 
as  the  light  faded  in  the  clear  sky,  a  number  of  little  twinkling  lamps 
would  be  kindled  in  the  narrow  street,  lighting  up  the  pale  sickly  faces 
of  the  patients  who  were  waiting  for  the  great  Physician  to  come  by 
We  see  him  passing  from  one  group  to  another,  missing  not  one  of 
the  sufferers,  and  surely  saying  some  words  of  comfort  or  warning  to 
each  one  on  whom  he  laid  his  healing  hand — words  that  would  dwell 
in  their  memories  forever.  All  had  faith  in  him,  and  all  were  cured 
of  whatsoever  disease  they  had. 

It  must  have  been  late  before  this  was  over,  and  the  crowd  dispersed 
to  their  homes.  It  seems  as  though  our  Lord,  after  this  busy  day  of 
active  ministry  and  untiring  sympathy,  was  unable  to  sleep;  for, 
rising  a  great  while  before  the  dawn,  he  sought  the  freshness  of  the 
cool  night  air  and  the  quiet  of  a  lonely  place,  where  he  could  pray,  or 
rather  speak  to  his  Father  unseen  and  unheard.  He  trod  softly 
through  the  silent  streets,  lately  so  full  of  stir,  and  made  his  way  tc- 
some  quiet  spot  on  the  shore  of  the  lake,  pondering,  it  may  be,  ovei 
the  strange  contrasts  in  his  life,  his  rejection  by  the  Nazarenes,  and  the 
enthusiastic  reception  of  him  by  the  city  of  Capernaum. 

As  soon  as  it  was  day,  however,  the  grateful  people,  discovering  that 
he  was  not  in  Peter's  house,  urged  his  disciples  to  lead  them  to  the 
place  where  he  had  found  a  brief  repose.     The  disciples  would  prob- 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE.  79 

ably  require  little  urging,  for  this  was  the  homage  they  expected  their 
Master  to  receive.  They  came  in  multitudes,  beseeching  him  to  tarry 
with  them ;  for,  like  Nicodemus,  they  knew  him  to  be  a  teacher  from 
God,  by  the  miracles  he  had  done.  This  host  of  friends  crowding 
about  him  to  prevent  him  from  departing  from  them  must  have  given 
him  a  moment  of  great  gladness.  But  he  could  not  stay  with  them, 
for  he  must  go  to  preach  the  kingdom  of  God  in  other  cities  also,  and 
if  he  found  faith  there,  to  perform  the  same  wonderful  and  tender 
miracles  he  had  wrought  in  Capernaum. 

For  the  next  few  days  Jesus,  with  five  or  six  disciples,  passed  from 
village  to  village  on  the  western  coast  of  the  lake,  and  in  the  plain  of 
Gennesaret,  a  lovely  and  fertile  tract  of  land,  six  or  seven  miles  long, 
and  five  wide,  surrounded  by  the  mountains  which  fall  back  from  the 
shore  of  the  lake  to  encircle  it.  It  was  thickly  covered  with  small 
towns  and  villages,  lying  so  near  to  one  another  that  the  rumor  of  his 
arrival  brought  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  cities  to  any  central  point 
where  they  heard  that  he  was  staying.  Herod  had  built  a  city  at  the 
south  of  the  plain  and  called  it  Tiberias,  after  the  Roman  emperor ; 
but  probably  our  Lord  never  entered  its  streets,  though  all  who 
desired  to  see  and  hear  him  could  readily  find  an  opportunity  in  the 
neighboring  villages.  It  was  in  one  of  these  places  that  a  leper,  hope- 
less as  his  case  seemed,  determined  to  cast  himself  upon  the  com- 
passion of  this  mighty  prophet.  No  leper  had  been  healed  since  the 
days  of  Naaman  the  Syrian ;  yet  so  wonderful  were  the  miracles 
wrought  by  Jesus,  so  well  known,  and  so  well  authenticated,  that  the 
man  did  not  doubt  his  power.  "  If  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me 
clean,"  he  cried.  He  soon  discovered  that  Christ's  tenderness  was  as 
great  as  his  power.  He  touched  him ;  and  imixiediately  the  sufferer 
was  cleansed.  The  leper  noised  it  abroad  so  much,  that  Jesus  was 
compelled  to  hold  himself  somewhat  aloof  from  the  town,  and  keep 
nearer  to  the  wild  and  barren  mountains,  where  the  plain  was  less 
densely  peopled,  until  a  day  or  two  before  the  Sabbath  he  returned  to 
Capernaum,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  plain.  During  those  few 
days  his  journeyings  had  been  confined  to  a  very  limited  space,  the 
beautiful  but  small  plain  of  Gennesaret,  with  its  thick  population  and 


8o 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


numerous  villages,  where  he  could  teach  many  people,  and  perform 
riany  miracles  with  no  loss  of  time  in  taking  long  journeys. 

During  the  week  Capernaum  had  been  in  a  fever  of  excitement.  It 
was  quite  practicable  for  many  of  the  inhabitants  to  go  out  three  or 
four  miles,  to  the  spot  where  Jesus  was,  for  the  day,  and  return  at  night 
with  the  story  of  what  he  was  doing.  The  excitement  had  not  been 
lessened  by  the  arrival  of  a  party  of  Pharisees  from  Jerusalem  itself 
•«ho  were  openly  unfriendly  to  the  Galilean  prophet  and  his  new 
I  octrines.     The  Galileans  naturally  looked  up  to  the  priesthood  at 


LEPERS   OUTSIDE   THE   GATE. 


Jerusalem,  especially  to  the  Sanhedrim,  as  the  great  authorities  upon 
religious  points.  There  were,  moreover,  plenty  of  Pharisees  in  Caper- 
naum, as  in  every  Jewish  town,  who  readily  took  up  the  opinions  of 
these  Pharisees  from  Judaea,  and  joined  them  eagerly  in  forming  a 
party  against  Jesus  and  his  innovations.  No  doubt  they  discussed  the 
miracle  wrought  in  their  own  synagogue  on  the  first  Sabbath  day  that 
Jesus  was  there ;  and  were  the  more  zealous  to  condemn  him,  because 
none  of  them  had  seen  the  sin  of  it  before  it  was  pointed  out  by  their 
keener  and  more  orthodox  brethren  from  Jerusalem. 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE,  «i 

No  sooner,  then,  was  Jesus  known  to  be  in  the  house  at  Caper naun-i 
than  there  collected  such  a  crowd  that  there  was  no  room  to  receive 
them  ;  no,  not  so  much  as  about  the  door.  But  some  of  the  Pharisees 
had  made  good  their  entrance,  and  were  sitting  by  caviling  and 
criticising  in  the  midst  of  his  disciples.  At  this  time  the  friends  of  a 
paralytic  man  who  were  not  able  to  bring  him  into  the  presence  of 
Jesus,  carried  him  to  the  flat  roof  of  a  neighboring  house,  and  so 
reaching  the  place  where  he  sat  to  teach  all  who  could  get  within 
hearing,  they  took  up  the  loose  boards  of  the  roof  and  let  down  their 
friend  before  him.  Jesus,  pausing  in  his  discourse,  said  first  to  him, 
"Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee!"  words  that  filled  the  Pharisees  with 
horror,  yet  with  secret  satisfaction.  "  Who  is  this  ?  "  they  say  to  one 
another;  "who  can  forgive  sins  but  God  alone?"  "You  cannot  see 
that  his  sins  are  forgiven,"  answered  Jesus,  "  but  I  will  give  you  a  sign 
which  you  can  see.  It  is  easy  to  say,  Thy  sins  be  forgiven;  but  I  say 
unto  thee,  O  man,  arise,  and  take  up  thy  couch,  and  go  into  thine 
house."  Even  the  Pharisees,  the  less  bitter  Pharisees  of  Galilee  a1 
least,  were  silenced  by  this,  and  were  for  once  touched  with  fear  of  this 
Son  of  man,  who  had  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins.  They  glorified 
God,  saying,  "  We  have  seen  strange  things  to-day." 

But  the  day  was  not  ended.  Jesus,  as  his  custom  was,  went  down 
to  the  shore,  where  he  could  teach  greater  numbers  than  in  the  narrow 
streets.  As  he  was  passing  along  he  saw  a  tax-collector  sitting  in 
his  booth  gathering  tolls  for  the  hated  Roman  conquerors.  Such  a 
person  was  singularly  offensive  to  all  Jews,  but  especially  so  to  the 
Pharisees,  who  looked  upon  publicans  as  the  most  vicious  and  de- 
graded of  men.  Mark  tells  us  this  man  was  the  son  of  Alpheus,  or 
Cleophas,  the  uncle  of  Jesus  by  his  marriage  with  Mary,  his  mother's 
sister.  If  so,  he  was  a  reprobate  son,  probably  disowned  by  all  his 
family,  to  whom  he  was  a  sorrow  and  disgrace.  The  presence  of 
Jesus  and  his  brethren  in  Capernaum  must  have  been  a  trial  to  him, 
bringing  back  to  mind  the  days  of  their  happy  boyhood  together  in 
Nazareth,  and  making  him  feel  keenly  the  misery  and  ignominy 
of  the  present.  But  now  Jesus  stands  opposite  his  booth,  looks 
him   in   the    face,    not    angrily,    but    tenderly,   and    he    hears    him 


«2 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


say,    "  Levi,    follow    me  I "      And    immediately    he    arose,    left    all, 
and  followed  him. 

The  same  evening,  Levi,  or  Matthew  as  he  was  afterwards  called, 
gave  a  supper  at  his  own  house  to  Jesus  and  his  disciples;  and,  no 
doubt  with  our  Lord's  permission,  invited  many  publicans  like  him- 
self to  come  and  meet  him  and  hear  his  teaching.  The  Pharisees 
could  not  let  such  a  circumstance  pass  uncriticized.  For  their  part, 
their  religion  forbade  them  eating  even  with  the  common  people,  and 
here  was  the  prophet  eating  with  publicans  and  sinners.  This  was  a 
fresh  offence;  and  Jesus  answered  only  by  saying,  "They  that  are 
whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick.  I  came  not  to  call 
the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance."  No  defence  was  offered, 
and  no  excuse  made.  But  there  was  a  sad  sarcasm  in  his  reply  which 
must  have  stung  the  consciences  of  some  of  them.  Were  they  the 
righteous,  whom  he  could  not  call  into  the  kingdom  of  God  ? 


CHAPTER   VIII.— FOES    FROM   JERUSALEM. 

S  spectators  at  Matthew's  feast  were  two  of  John's 

disciples,  who  had  been  sent  by  their  master  with 

a   strange   question,    "Art   thou  he  that  should 

come,  or  look  we  for  another?"    John  had  now 

been    imprisoned   for  some   time    in   a   gloomy 

dungeon  on  the  desolate  shores  of  the  Dead  sea 

His  disciples,  who  were  inclined  to  be  somewhat 

jealous   of  the   younger   prophet,    had    brought   him 

,  j^      word  of  the   miracles  wrought   by  Jesus,   but   wroughiT 

^^  Y       upon    the  Sabbath  day  in  direct  antagonism  to  the  Phari- 

r^'      sees,  and,  as  it  seemed,  to  the  law  of  Moses.     The  very  first 

miracle  at  Cana  of  Galilee  was  altogether  opposed  to  the  austere 

habits  of  John,  who  had  never  tasted  wine.     There  was  something 

perplexing  and  painful  to  him  in  these  reports ;  and  he  had  nothing 

else  to  do  in  his  prison  than  brood  over  them.    Was  it  possible  that  he 


LOWERING   THE   SICK    MAN    THROUGH    THE    ROOF. 


R3 


84 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


could  have  made  any  mistake — could  have  fallen  under  any  delusion 
in  proclaiming  his  cousin  Jesus  as  the  promised  Messiah  ?  Had  he 
truly  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  ?  Could  this  be  indeed  the  Son  of 
God,  who  mingled  with  common  people  at  their  feasts,  and  visited 
Samaritans  ?  He,  who  all  his  life  long  had  lived  in  the  open  air,  free 
from^  even  social  restraints,  was  becoming  morbid  in  his  captivity. 
It  grew  necessary  to  him  at  last  to  send  his  disciples  to  Jesus  for 
some  comforting  and  reassuring  message. 


JEWS  SITTING  AT  MEAT. 


When  John's  disciples  came  to  Jesus,  they  seem  to  have  found  him 
Toasting  with  the  publicans — a  circumstance  utterly  foreign  to  their 
master's  custom.  They  felt  themselves  more  akin  to  the  Pharisees, 
and  asked  him,  "  Why  do  we  and  the  Pharisees  fast  oft,  but  thy  dis- 
ciples fast  not  ?  "  Jesus  answered  them  that  he  was  the  bridegroom 
of  whom  John  himself  had  spoken,  and  that  as  long  as  the  bridegroom 
was  with  them  they  could  not  mourn.  But  the  days  would  come 
when  he  should  be  taken  away,  and  then  they  would  fast.  He  would 
have  no  pretence  at  mourning  or  fasting,  to  be  seen  of  men.     He 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  85 

would  have  no  acting.     These  were  days  of  joy,  and  it  was  meet  tc 
make  merry  and  be  glad  when  a  brother  who  had   been  lost  was 
found.     Matthew  was  their  brother,  and   he  was  restored  to  them 
how  could  they  mourn  ? 

But  Jesus  kept  John's  disciples  with  him  for  a  short  time,  that  the)- 
might  see  how  miracles  were  his  everyday  work,  not  merely  a  wondei 
performed  in  the  synagogues  on  a  Sabbath  day,  before  sending  them 
back  to  the  poor  prisoner  in  Herod's  fortress.  The  next  day  was  a 
Sabbath.  The  Pharisees  kept  closely  beside  Jesus,  following  him 
even  when  he  and  his  disciples  v/ere  walking  through  the  fields  of 
standing  corn,  possibly  after  the  synagogue  service,  but  before  the 
Sabbath  was  ended.  It  was  the  second  week  of  April,  and  the  grain 
was  growing  heavy  in  the  ear ;  perhaps  a  few  ears  of  it  were  ripe,  for 
in  the  lowlands  about  Capernaum  it  ripened  earlier  than  in  the 
uplands  of  Galilee.  The  disciples  plucked  the  ears  of  corn,  rubbing 
them  in  their  hands  with  the  careless  ease  of  men  who  thought  it  no 
harm,  and  who  had  forgotten  the  captious  Pharisees  beside  them.  The 
latter  accused  them  sharply  of  breaking  the  law,  and  aroused  Jesus 
to  defend  them  by  giving  them  instances  from  their  own  Scriptures 
and  observances  of  the  law  of  Moses  being  broken  without  blame. 
Then,  pausing  to  give  more  weight  to  his  last  words,  he  added,  "  The 
Son  of  man  is  Lord  also  of  the  Sabbath."  He  did  not  acknowledge 
their  authority  to  make  laws  for  the  Sabbath.  Nay,  more,  he  claimed 
to  be  Lord  of  it  himself. 

Without  doubt  this  answer  deepened  the  enmity  and  opposition  of 
the  Pharisees ;  nor  can  we  wonder  at  it.  There  was  now  no  middle 
course  they  could  take.  If  they  acknowledged  Jesus  to  be  a  prophet 
sent  from  God,  they  must  own  him  as  Christ,  the  Messiah,  with  a 
Divine  authority  over  their  laws  and  traditions.  He  was  setting  these 
at  defiance,  asserting  himself  to  be  Lord  of  the  temple  and  Lord  of 
the  Sabbath,  John  had  made  no  such  claims,  though  it  was  well 
known  that  his  birth  had  been  foretold  by  the  angel  Gabriel  to  Zacha- 
rias,  his  father,  when  he  was  ministering  in  the  Holy  Place.  But 
John's  career  was  at  an  end ;  and  if  Jesus  was  not  taken  out  of  the 
way  he  would  turn  the  world  upside  down,  and  the  Romans  would 


86  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

\xmg  them  into  utter  subjection.  Both  religion  and  patriotism  de- 
manded that  they  should  seek  his  death. 

A  day  or  two  after  this  weekly  Sabbath  came  a  legal  Sabbath,  one 
of  the  holy  days  among  the  Jews.  Jesus  was  in  the  synagogue ;  and 
there  also,  probably  in  a  conspicuous  place  as  if  to  catch  his  eye,  sat  a 
man  with  a  withered  hand.  It  seems  almost  as  though  he  had  been 
found  and  posted  there  in  order  to  test  Jesus.  The  Pharisees  were 
growing  eager  to  multiply  accusations  against  him  before  they  re- 
turned to  Jerusalem  for  the  approaching  feast  of  the  passover.  Even 
they  might  feel  that  the  sin  of  plucking  ears  of  corn  was  not  a  very 
grave  one.  Here  was  a  man  for  Jesus  to  heal.  The  case  was  not  an 
urgent  one ;  to-morrow  would  do  as  well  as  to-day  for  restoring  the 
withered  hand.  But  Jesus  will  show  to  them  that  any  act  of  love  and 
mercy  is  lawful  on  the  Sabbath  day,  is,  in  fact,  the  most  lawful  thing 
to  do.  God  causes  his  sun  to  shine,  and  his  rain  to  fall,  on  that  day 
as  on  any  other.  He  looked  round  upon  them  all  with  their  hard 
faces  set  against  him;  and  he  was  grieved  in  his  heart.  Then,  with 
the  authority  of  a  prophet,  he  bade  the  man  stand  up  and  stand 
forward  in  the  midst  of  them.  If  they  had  been  secretly  plotting 
against  him  in  bringing  the  man  there,  he  was  not  afraid  to  face  them 
openly.  "  Is  it  lawful  on  the  Sabbath  day  to  do  good  or  to  do  evil  ? 
to  save  life  or  to  destroy  it  ? "  he  asked.  But  the  Pharisees  from 
Jerusalem  could  not  answer  the  question ;  and  when  he  healed  the 
man  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people,  they  were  filled  with  madness. 

Possibly  they  had  reckoned  upon  the  miracle  failing,  for  by  this 
time  It  was  understood  that  only  those  who  believed  in  the  power  of 
Jesus  could  be  healed,  and  they  had  not  expected  this  man  to  have 
faith  in  him.  It  seems  that  they  left  the  synagogue  at  once,  and 
though  it  was  a  Sabbath  day  they  held  a  council  against  him  how 
they  might  destroy  him.  They  even  entered  into  an  alliance  with  the 
Herodians,  their  own  opponents.  For  the  Herodians  favored  the 
adoption  of  Roman  laws  and  customs,  against  which  the  Pharisees 
had  formed  themselves  into  a  distinct  sect  But  they  were  now  ready 
to  join  any  party,  or  follow  any  party,  so  that  they  might  destroy  this 
common  enemy. 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE 


87 


It  became  impossible  for  Jesus  to  remain  in  Capernaum,  and  he 
left  it  immediately,  probably  the  same  evening,  withdrawing  to  some 
mountain  near  the  lake,  where  he  continued  all  night  in  prayer  to 
God.  To  a  nature  like  his  this  bitter  and  pitiless  enmity,  aroused  by 
acts  of  goodness  only,  must  have  been  a  terrible  burden.  They  were 
his  own  people,  not  the  heathen,  who  were  hunting  him  to  death — 
men  who  all  their  lives  long  had  heard  and  read  of  God,  his  heavenly 
Father,  who  offered  sacrifices  to  him,  and  gave  tithes  to  his  temple  of 
all  that  they  possessed.  They  knew,  or  ought  to  have  known,  what 
they  were  doing.  There  was  no  excuse  of  ignorance  for  them.  All 
night  he  prayed,  with  the  bright  stars  glittering  above  him  in  the  blue 
sky,  and  the  fresh  breeze  from  the  lake  and  the  mountain,  laden  with 
the  scent  of  flowers,  breathing  softly  on  his  face.  No  sounds  near  him 
save  the  quiet  sounds  of  night  on  the  mountain  side,  and  the  wail  of 
the  curlew  over  the  lake.  This  was  better  than  sleep  to  him ;  and  as 
the  day  dawned  he  was  ready  once  more  to  meet  his  disciples,  and  to 
face  the  numerous  duties  coming  with  the  sunrise. 

His  first  act  was  to  call  his  disciples  to  him,  and  from  them  he  chose 
twelve  to  form  for  the  future  a  group  of  attached  followers  and  friends, 
who  would  go  with  him  wherever  he  went  and  learn  his  message,  so 
as  to  carry  it  to  other  lands  when  his  own  voice  was  silenced.  Him 
his  foes  might  and  would  destroy ;  but  his  message  from  God  must 
not  perish  with  him.  Philip  was  one  of  them,  he  who  had  been  with 
hirri  from  the  first ;  and  John,  the  youngest  and  most  loved,  who  sat 
nearest  to  him  at  meal  times,  and  who  treasured  up  every  word  that 
fell  from  his  lips,  so  that,  when  he  came  to  write  the  history  of  his 
Lord,  so  many  memories  crowded  to  his  brain  of  things  Jesus  had 
said  and  done,  that  he  cried  in  loving  despair,  "  All  the  world  could 
not  contain  the  books  that  might  be  written  I " 

Two  at  least,  if  not  three,  of  our  Lord's  own  family  were  among 
the  chosen  twelve :  James,  his  cousin,  of  whom  it  is  said  he  was  so  like 
Jesus  as  sometimes  to  be  mistaken  for  him ;  and  Judas,  not  Iscariot, 
who,  like  the  other  kinsmen  of  Christ,  asked  him,  even  on  the  last 
night  that  he  lived,  "  Why  wilt  thou  manifest  thyself  to  us,  and  not 
unto  the  world  ? "     Levi,  if  he  was  the  son  of  Alpheus,  was  a  third 


88  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

cousin,  and  each  one  wrote  for  us  a  portion  of  the  New  Testament 
How  much  might  these  three  have  told  us  of  his  early  life  in  Nazareth 
if  no  restraint  had  been  laid  upon  them  I 

Then  there  was  Peter,  always  the  leader  among  the  apostles 
impatient  and  daring,  so  eager  that  he  must  always  meet  his  Lord, 
and  not  wait  for  him  to  come  to  him ;  walking  upon  the  sea,  or 
casting  himself  into  it  to  reach  more  quickly  the  shore  where  Jesus 
stood,  exclaiming  rapturously  at  one  time,  "Thou  art  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God,"  and  at  another,  with  oaths  and  curses, 
repeating,  "  I  know  not  the  man."  Of  the  rest  we  know  little, 
save  one  dark  name,  read  amidst  the  blackest  shadows  of  the  past 
Why  did  Jesus  call  Judas  Iscariot  ?  Why  did  he  make  him  a 
familiar  friend,  in  whom  he  trusted  ?  They  went  up  together  into 
the  house  of  God,  and  took  sweet  counsel  together.  He  gave 
and  received  from  Jesus  the  kiss  of  friendship.  To  him  was  intrusted 
the  wealth  of  the  little  band,  and  every  trifling  want  of  his  Master's 
he  had  to  supply,  an  office  that  brought  him  into  the  closest  intimacy 
with  him.  Why  was  he  chosen  for  this  service?  Was  he  the  eldest 
amid  this  company  of  young  men  ?  a  wise,  shrewd  man,  cautious  and 
prudent,  where  others  might  have  been  rash  or  forgetful  ?  We  do 
not  know;  but  whilst  Peter,  James,  and  John  followed  their  Lord 
into  the  chamber  of  Jairus's  little  daughter  and  up  to  the  Mount 
of  Transfiguration,  Judas  had  the  bag,  and  bore  what  was  put 
thereirL 


CHAPTER   IX.— AT  NAIN. 


T  was  broad  daylight  now,  no  time  for  secret  assassi- 
nation, and,  surrounded  by  his  twelve  devoted 
friends,  Jesus  returned  to  Capernaum,  where  his 
mother  would  probably  be  -waiting  in  a  state  of 
anxious  restlessness.  As  soon  as  it  was  known 
that  he  was  entering  the  town,  some  of  the  rulers 
of  the  synagogue  came  to  meet  him,  beseeching 
him  to  work  a  miracle  in  favor  of  a  Roman 
centurion,  whose  servant  was  likely  to  die,.  The 
most  bigoted  among  them  could  not  deny  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  did  many  mighty  works ;  and  they 
could  not  decline  to  offer  this  petition  to  him  when  the  centurion, 
who  had  built  them  a  synagogue,  commissioned  them  with  it.  The 
servant  was  healed  without  Jesus  going  to  the  house,  the  centurion 
sending  to  say  that  he  was  not  worthy  that  the  Lord  should  enter 
under  his  roof  Even  Jesus  marveled  at  the  man's  faith,  and  though 
he  had  just  chosen  twelve  of  his  most  trustworthy  disciples,  he  cried, 
"I  have  not  found  so  great  a  faith;   no,  not  in  Israel." 

The  next  day,  Jesus,  followed  by  many  disciples,  both  men  and 
women,  went  out  to  visit  the  towns  and  villages  lying  westward 
of  the  hills  which  enclose  the  plain  of  Gennesaret.  As  he  passed 
along  his  company  grew  in  numbers,  for  everywhere  had  men  heard 
of  him,  and  those  who  had  sick  friends  brought  them  out  to  the 
roadside  that  they  might  be  healed.  This  day  his  journey  was 
a  long  one,  and  he  could  not  tarry  by  the  way,  except  to  work 
some  such  loving  miracle.  He  was  to  rest  in  the  little  village 
of  Nain  that  night;  a  place  he  knew  quite  well,  for  it  was  only 
five  miles  from  Nazareth,  and  probably  he  had  some  friends  there. 
Much  people  had  gathered  around  him  when  he  trod  the  steep  path 
up   to    Nain;   but  before   they  reached  the  gate  another  multitude 

6  89 


90 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


appeared  coming  out  as  if  to  meet  them,  yet  there  was  no  shout 
of  welcome;  instead  there  were  cries  and  wailings  for  one  whom 
they  were  carrying  forth  to  the  tombs  outside  the  village. 

Possibly  Jesus  knew  both  the  young  man  who  was  dead  and  his 
mother.  He  hastened  to  her  side,  and  said,  "  Weep  not."  Then  he 
touched  the  bier,  and  those  who  were  carrying  it  stood  still.  What 
was  the  prophet  about  to  do?  He  could  heal  any  kind  of  sickness, 
but  this  was  death,  not  sickness.  It  was  a  corpse  bound  up,  and 
swathed  with  grave-clothes;  the  eyes  forever  blinded  to  the  light, 
and  the  ears  too  deaf  to  be  unloosed.  An  awful  silence  must  have 
fallen  upon  the  crowd ;  and  they  heard  a  calm,  quiet  voice  saying, 
"Young  man,  I  say  unto  thee.  Arise!"  He  spoke  simply,  in  a  few 
words  only ;  but  the  quiet  voice  pierced  through  all  the  sealed 
deafness  of  death,  and  the  dead  sat  up,  and  began  to  speak.  Then 
Jesus,  perhaps  with  his  own  hands  freeing  him  from  the  grave-clothes, 
gave  him  back  to  his  mother.  A  thrill  of  fear  ran  through  all 
the  crowd,  and  as  they  thronged  into  Nain  some  said,  "A  great 
prophet  is  risen  up  among  us,"  and  others,  "God  has  visited  his 
people." 

It  has  been  thought  that  here,  at  Nain,  dwelt  Simon  the  Pharisee, 
who  now  invited  Jesus  to  his  house  to  eat  meat  with  him.  He  was 
not  one  of  our  Lord's  enemies  from  Jerusalem,  but  merely  a  member 
of  the  sect,  which  was  numerous  throughout  all  Judea  and  Galilee. 
He  probably  regarded  Jesus  as  a  workingman  from  the  neighboring 
village  of  Nazareth,  though  now  considered  a  prophet  by  the  people ; 
and  he  did  not  offer  to  him  the  courteous  attentions  he  would  have 
t-hown  to  a  more  honored  guest.  After  his  long  and  dusty  walk 
Jesus  sat  down  to  Simon's  table  without  the  usual  refreshment  of 
having  his  feet  washed,  and  his  head  anointed  with  oil. 

But  this  slight,  passed  over  by  Jesus,  was  more  than  atoned  for  by  a 
woman,  who,  coming  in  to  see  the  supper  with  other  townspeople, 
stood  behind  him  at  his  feet,  and  began  to  wash  them  with  her  tears, 
and  to  wipe  them  with  her  long  hair,  kissing  them  again  and  again. 
Caring  little  who  was  watching  her  in  her  passion  of  repentance  and 
love,  she  brought  an  alabaster  box  of  precious  ointment  and  poured 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


91 


the  costly  contents  upon  the  feet  she  had  washed  and  kissed.  Yef 
the  prophet  seemed  to  take  no  notice  of  her  and  her  touch.  But 
Simon,  the  host,  said  to  himself,  "  This  man,  if  he  were  a  prophet, 
would  have  known  who  and  what  manner  of  woman  this  is  that 
toucheth  him,  for  she  is  a  sinner."  The  sinful  woman's  unheeded 
touch  was  more  conclusive  against  him  than  all  his  miracles  were  for 
him.  Simon  did  not  have  her  thrust  from  his  house,  but  there  was 
a  secret  satisfaction  in  his  heart  at  finding  that  Joseph's  son,  after 
all,  was  not  prophet  enough  to  know  who  she  was. 

Did  not  Jesus  know  ?  Had  he  not  felt  eveiy  tear  that  had  fallen 
upon  his  feet,  and  the  touch  of  the  trembling  lips  which  dared  not 
speak  to  him?  He  spoke  a  short,  simple  parable  to  Simon,  and 
asked  him  a  question,  the  answer  to  which  condemned  the  self- 
righteous  Pharisee.  And  then,  turning  to  the  weeping  woman,  he 
said,  "  Thy  sins,  which  are  many,  are  forgiven ;  thy  faith  hath  saved 
thee;  go  in  peace."  Those  who  sat  about  him  began  then  with 
their  old  murmur,  "  Who  is  this  that  forgiveth  sins  also  ?  "  But  he 
gave  them  no  sign  this  time.  No  sign  could  be  greater  than  the 
miracle  wrought  that  day.  As  Jesus  himself  said  in  one  of  his 
parables,  "They  will  not  be  persuaded,  no,  not  if  one  rise  from 
the  dead." 


CHAPTER  X.~MIGHTY  WORKS. 


HAVING  Nain,  Jesus,  with  a  large  number  of 
followers,  including  the  apostles,  and  certain 
women  who  ministered  to  them  of  their  prop- 
erty, passed  through  all  the  villages  of  that 
neighborhood,  gradually  working  their  way 
back  to  Capernaum.  It  was  some  time  during 
this  week  that  Jesus  dismissed  the  disciples  of 
John  the  Baptist,  bidding  them  tell  him  all 
they  had  seen  and  heard,  and  adding  to  his 
message  a  gentle  reproof,  "  Blessed  is  he  who- 
soever shall  not  be  offended  in  me."  He  knew 
how  many  were  already  offended ;  and  how  the  cause  of  offence 
must  take  deeper  and  deeper  root,  until  the  scandal  of  the  cross  came 
to  eclipse  every  dream  of  glory  in  his  followers.  The  message  thus 
sent  to  John  in  his  prison,  with  the  marvelous  tidings  of  the  signs 
and  wonders  wrought,  and  the  report  of  the  new  doctrines,  must  have 
greatly  strengthened  and  comforted  the  prophet  diiring  the  short 
time  that  remained  to  him  of  life. 

The  circuit  from  Nain  to  Capernaum,  though  short,  was  one  of 
great  exertion  and  fatigue ;  yet  when  they  reached  the  latter  town, 
and  were  in  need  of  rest,  so  great  a  multitude  came  together  again 
immediately,  that  they  could  not  so  much  as  eat  bread.  Jesus 
could  not  attend  to  his  own  needs,  whilst  others  were  crying  to 
him  for  help,  or  crowding  round  him  for  instruction.  His  meat 
was  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  him,  and  to  finish  his  work; 
and  the  bitter  enmity  of  the  Pharisees  warned  him  that  what  he  had 
to  do  must  be  done  quickly.  But  his  relations  thought  it  was  quite 
time  to  interfere  with  this  self-forgettul  zeal,  and  they  sought  to 
take  hold  of  him,  saying,  "  He  is  beside  himself"  They  did  not 
yet  believe  in  him,  for  they  could  not  get  over  the  impression  made 
92 


^^*> 


^-^ 


CHRIST  AND  PETER. 

'O  Thou  of  Little  Faith,  wherefore  didst  Thou  Doubt?' 


-Matt.  14  :  31. 


JESUS  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  MARY  AND  MARTHA.— Luke  lO :  38. 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE.  95 

upon  them  by  his  homely  simple  life  among  them,  when  he  worked 
at  a  trade  like  themselves,  apparently  unconscious  of  being  different 
from  them.  Probably  their  words  only  meant  that  he  was  carried 
into  extremes  by  his  burning  enthusiasm.  But  the  Pharisees  from 
Jerusalem,  who  were  still  hanging  about  him,  caught  up  the  hasty 
words  and  bitterly  exaggerated  them.  "  He  hath  Beelzebub,"  they 
cried,  "and  by  the  prince  of  the  devils  he  casteth  out  devils." 
.^Jesus  then  called  them  to  him,  bidding  the  crowd  make  way.  It 
was  an  extraordinary  scene.  There  stood  the  powerful  enemies 
from  the  chief  city  and  the  chief  priests  of  the  nation,  strong  in  their 
reputation  for  religion  and  for  righteousness,  face  to  face  with 
the  young  but  well-known  prophet  of  Nazareth,  who  boldly  and 
solemnly  in  the  hearing  of  all  the  people  warned  them  of  the  sin 
they  were  committing — blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost — and 
declared  that  if  it  was  persisted  in  there  was  no  forgiveness  for  it. 

In  the  meantime  his  mother,  whose,  spirit  could  not  be  as  brave 
for  her  son  as  his  was  for  God,  came  to  the  outskirts  of  the  throng 
with  some  of  his  cousins,  and  sent  a  message  to  him,  which  reached 
his  ears  as  he  finished  his  warning  to  the  Pharisees.  "Behold," 
they  said,  "  thy  mother  and  thy  brethren  stand  without,  desiring  to 
see  thee."  It  was  no  moment  for  such  a  message  to  come.  His 
kinsmen,  thous^h  we  cannot  think  his  mother  could  have  taken  a 
part  in  it,  had  given  occasion  to  the  Pharisees  to  say  that  he  hact 
a  devil ;  and  it  was  necessary  that  all  should  know  that  he  owned 
no  authority  in  them,  and  could  not  submit  to  any  interference. 
Dearly  as  he  loved  his  mother,  even  she  must  cease  to  look  upon 
him  as  a  son  whom  she  might  command.  Solemnly  and  emphati- 
-cally  he  pointed  to  his  apostles,  and  to  the  women  who  had  come 
into  the  city  weary  and  hungry  as  himself  "  Behold  my  mother  and 
my  brethren,"  he  said,  "  for  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother." 

The  remainder  of  the  day  was  one  of  ceaseless  activities.  So  many 
persons  came  in  from  other  towns  that  Jesus,  as  his  custom  was,  led 
them  down  to  some  convenient  spot  on  the  shore,  and  there  entered 
into  a  boat,  so  as  to  be  seen  and  heard  by  all.     He  taught  them  by 


96  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

parables,  by  many  parables,  and  by  nothing  else  than  parables;  a 
charming  and  fascinating  mode  of  teaching  to  these  imaginative 
eastern  people,  who  carried  them  home  in  their  minds  to  ponder  over, 
and  find  out  their  hidden  meaning.  There  was  no  need  for  them  to 
be  learned  in  the  law ;  the  common  occupations  of  every  day  served 
as  lessons  for  them ;  sowing  their  seed,  or  mixing  their  meal  with 
yeast,  was  the  symbol  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  which  had  come 
among  them. 

At  last  the  sun  sank  behind  the  western  hills,  and  evening  closed 
in.  The  disciples  sent  away  the  crowds  from  their  exhausted  Master. 
One  of  his  hearers,  a  scribe  even,  for  he  had  won  some  friends  among 
the  ranks  of  his  foes,  came  to  him,  saying,  "  Master,  I  will  follow  thee 
whithersoever  thou  goest."  Jesus  was  weary  in  body,  and  depressed 
in  spirit.  Capernaum  lay  there  close  by,  but  it  was  no  safe  place  for 
him  to  spend  the  night  in.  He  had  already  decided  that  it  was  better 
to  cross  over  the  lake  to  the  eastern  side,  where  his  enemies  might 
not  care  to  follow  him ;  and  he  answered  the  scribe  in  those  mournful 
and  most  memorable  words,  "  The  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of 
the  air  have  nests ;  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his 
head."  The  sky  was  darkening,  and  the  stillness  of  night  coming  on ; 
the  birds  were  sing-inQ:  their  last  sonsjs ;  and  the  wild  beasts  were 
creeping  forth  out  of  their  dens  which  had  sheltered  them  all  day. 
But  for  him  there  was  no  place  of  rest,  save  the  deck  of  the  boat ;  no 
bed,  except  a  pillow,  on  which  his  aching  head  could  lie.  Yet  perhaps 
the  scribe  followed  him  for  a  little  fleet  of  fishermen's  boats  sailed 
out  after  him  into  the  gathering  darkness,  following  the  bark,  in  which 
the  Master  was  soon  sleeping,  for  very  weariness,  near  the  helmsman 
who  was  steering  for  the  eastern  shores. 

The  lake  of  Galilee,  like  all  inland  lakes,  is  subject  to  sudden 
storms  of  wind,  which  sweep  down  the  ravines  between  the  mountains 
with  great  force.  Such  a  gale  came  on  this  night,  with  so  much  fury 
that  even  those  disciples  who,  as  fishermen,  were  quite  at  home  on  the 
water,  were  filled  with  terror.  The  eager  followers  in  the  other  boats 
must  have  been  still  more  alarmed  as  the  waves  beat  over  them,  and 
filled  their  small  vessels.     No  one  but  Jesus  could  have  been  asleep^ 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE  57 

but  he  slept  soundly ;  and  it  was  not  till  they  called  him  that  he 
awoke.  "Master,"  they  cried,  "carest  thou  not  that  we  perish?" 
Yes,  he  cared.  He  cared  even  for  their  fears;  and  though  there 
was  no  danger  of  their  perishing  whilst  he  was  with  them  in  the  boat, 
he  arose,  and  rebuked  the  wind  and  the  sea,  and  immediately 
there  was  a  great  calm.  Probably  he  fell  asleep  again;  but  all 
the  crews  of  that  little  company  of  boats  were  exceedingly  afraid, 
asking  one  another,  "What  manner  of  man  is  this;  hungry  and 
thirsty,  and  worn  out  with  weariness  like  ourselves,  yet  even  the 
wind  and  the  sea  obey  him?" 

The  early  morning  found  them  on  the  eastern  shore  near  Gergasa, 
which  was  in  the  tretrarchy  of  Philip,  a  just  and  moderate  prince,  very 
different  from  his  brother  Herod,  who  ruled  over  Galilee.  Here,  at 
least,  Jesus  might  expect  to  find  shelter  and  rest.  But  no  sooner  had 
he  landed  than  a  terrible  demoniac,  whose  dwelling  was  among  the 
tombs  near  the  town,  rushed  down  to  the  shore  to  meet  him.  So 
fierce  and  violent  was  he  that  no  man  dare  pass  that  way,  and  always, 
day  and  night,  the  unhappy  wretch  was  cr)-ing  and  cutting  himself 
with  stones.  Jesus  at  once  commanded  the  legion  of  evil  spirits  to 
come  out  of  the  man ;  but  gave  them  permission  to  enter  into  a  herd 
of  swine  that  were  feeding  near  at  hand ;  upon  which  the  whole 
herd,  in  number  about  two  thousand,  ran  violently  down  a  steep 
place  into  the  lake,  and  were  choked  in  the  waters.  Those  who 
kept  them  fled  into  Gergasa,  and  the  inhabitants  immediately  came 
out  to  see  who  it  was  that  had  done  this  mischief  But  upon  finding 
their  fierce  and  powerful  countryman  clothed,  and  in  his  right  mind, 
they  were  afraid ;  and  learning  by  what  miracle  he  had  been  restored, 
they  confined  their  resentment  at  their  loss  to  beseeching  Jesus  to 
quit  their  coast. 

Wet  and  hungry  as  he  was,  Jesus  returned  to  the  boat,  bidding 
the  poor  man,  who  wished  to  follow  him,  rather  to  go  home  to  his 
friends  and  tell  them  what  great  things  the  Lord  had  done  for  hijiL 
Though  the  Gergascnes  would  not  receive  him,  he  would  leave 
them  a  witness  to  tell  of  his  love  and  power.  And  now,  driven 
^way  from  that  inhospitable  coast,  he  returned  toward  Capernaum, 


98  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

giving  up  the  hope  of  a  few  days'  rest,  far  away  from  his  knot  of 
enemies,  and  his  thoughtless  crowd  of  followers. 

No  sooner  was  it  known  that  his  boat  was  on  the  shore  than  one  of 
the  rulers  of  the  synagogue  hastened  down  to  him.  His  little  daugh- 
ter was  lying  at  the  point  of  death,  and  there  remained  no  hope  but  in 
Jesus.  He  went  at  once  with  the  father;  yet  he  paused  on  the  way 
to  heal  a  poor  woman  who  touched  in  secret  the  hem  of  his  garment 
as  he  passed  by.  She  had  been  suffering  as  many  years  as  the  child 
had  lived,  and  Jesus  could  not  neglect  her  for  a  ruler's  daughter,  though 
he  should  gain  a  powerful  friend  by  it.  There  was  a  great  tumult  about 
the  house  when  they  reached  it;  the  child  was  just  dead,  had  died 
while  Jesus  lingered  on  the  way  to  heal  this  poor  woman,  who  had 
spent  all  that  she  had  on  physicians.  "She  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth," 
he  said ;  and  they  laughed  him  to  scorn,  knowing  she  was  dead.  Into 
her  chamber  he  passed,  suffering  no  one  to  go  in  but  her  father  and 
mother,  and  his  three  most  favored  disciples  ;  and  taking  the  girl's  hand 
into  his  own,  he  called  to  her,  and  her  spirit  came  back  again  over  the 
mysterious  threshold  it  had  just  crossed. 

But  Jesus  charged  her  parents  that  they  should  tell  no  man  what 
was  done;  he  charged  them  straitly.  He  would  not  have  this  young 
and  happy  life  burdened  with  the  weight  of  such  a  mystery ;  if  possi- 
ble the  girl  herself  was  not  to  know  it.  The  widow's  son  at  Nain 
might  bear  the  burden,  and  meet  the  curious  eye  bent  upon  him,  and 
answer  as  he  could  the  eager  questions  asked  about  that  other  life  of 
which  he  had  caught  a  glimpse.  But  this  child,  just  on  the  verge  of 
happy  girlhood,  must  be  spared  it  all.  "She  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth," 
he  said,  and  he  called  her  back  to  her  place  on  earth  as  one  who  had 
only  been  wrapt  in  a  deeper  slumber  than  is  natural. 


SHE  TOUCHED  THE  HEM   OF    HIS  GARMENT.' 


99 


CHAPTER  XI.— A  HOLIDAY  IN  GALILEE 


ESUS  seems  only  to  have  entered  Capernaum  foi 
the  sake  of  Jairus ;  for  he  did  not  stay  there ; 
but  going  away  immediately,  he  went  once  more 
to  Nazareth,  where  some  of  his  cousins  were  still 
living.  Very  probably  he  knew  from  them  that 
his  townsfolk  were  now  ashamed  of  their  savage 
assault  upon  him  three  weeks  before.  Since 
then  they  had  heard  of  his  wisdom  and  his 
mighty  works,  especially  of  that  one  at  Nain,  a 
village  within  sight  of  their  own  town.  They 
were  even  hoping  to  have  their  own  curiosity 
gratified  by  some  wonder  performed  among  them;  but  they  could 
not  get  over  the  fact  that  he  had  been  a  carpenter  in  Nazareth,  and 
that  all  his  relations  were  known  by  them,  poor  undistinguished 
people,  who  were  considered  of  no  account.  Jesus  himself  marveled 
at  their  unbelief,  surpassing  any  he  had  yet  contended  against ;  and 
he  could  not  do  any  mighty  work,  save  that  he  healed  a  few  sick  folk, 
probably  poor  people,  who  knew  him  better  than  the  wiser  and 
richer  m^n. 

From  Nazareth  he  sent  out  his  apostles  by  two  and  two  to  make  a 
short  circuit  of  the  towns  lying  about  before  meeting  him  again  on  an 
appointed  day  near  Capernaum ;  for  it  was  safer  to  be  close  upon  the 
shores  of  the  lake,  whence  at  any  time  he  could  seek  refuge  in  the 
dominions  of  Philip,  rather  than  in  any  of  the  country  places  from 
which  theif.  could  be  no  speedy  way  of  escape  from  his  enemies.  He 
himself  went  round  the  villages  teaching.  The  district  traveled  over 
thus  was  a  small  one,  and  by  the  separation  of  the  apostles  into  six 
parties,  every  village  would  be  quickly  visited.  These  little  places  lay 
close  together,  and  only  a  central  spot  would  be  needed  for  the  gather- 


I02  THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE. 

ing  of  congregations ;  the  Galileans  seeming  to  be  always  ready  to 
flock  together  at  the  first  hint  of  any  excitement. 

The  first  news  that  reached  Jesus,  when  he  returned  to  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Capernaum,  was  that  of  the  cruel  death  of  his  cousin,  friend 
and  forerunner,  John  the  Baptist,  whose  disciples  were  come  to  bring 
him  the  tidings.  The  murder  of  their  prophet  must  have  stirred  the 
people  to  deep  indignation,  and  wounded  the  tender  heart  of  Christ 
most  keenly.  But  at  the  same  time  his  apostles  met  him,  full  of 
triumph  at  the  wonders  they  had  themselves  performed  during  their 
short  separation  from  him.  To  some  of  them  John  the  Baptist  had 
been  almost  as  dear  as  Jesus  was  now;  and  thus  two  currents  of  strong 
agitation  ran  counter  to  one  another,  Jesus  himself  felt  in  need  of 
some  hours  of  quietness  in  which  to  mourn  over  his  loss,  and  to  hear 
from  his  apostles  what  they  had  done  and  taught.  But  so  long  as 
they  remained  on  the  western  shore  of  the  lake  there  was  no  hope  of 
gaining  any  such  leisure  time  ;  and  he  entered  into  a  boat  with  his 
disciples  and  passed  over  to  the  other  side. 

They  landed  in  a  solitary  spot  on  the  north  of  the  lake,  not  more 
than  three  or  four  miles  east  of  Capernaum,  where  the  hills  shut  in  a 
small  plot  of  tall  green  grass,  not  yet  dried  up  by  the  summer's  heat. 
But  the  multitudes  of  people  from  whom  they  had  intended  to  escape 
for  a  little  while,  seeing  them  depart,  set  out  on  foot  along  the  shore, 
and  keeping  the  boat  in  sight,  with  its  sails  fluttering  over  the 
glistening  water,  they  outwent  it  in  speed.  It  was  probably  the  day 
before  the  passover  supper,  which  was  kept  at  Jerusalem ;  a  day  on 
which  no  work  was  done  in  Galilee :  and  thus  the  people  gathered 
from  every  village  and  farm-house,  and  from  every  fishing  hamlet  on 
the  shore,  until  when  Jesus  reached  the  desert  place  near  Bethsaida, 
one  of  the  largest  crowds  that  could  ever  have  collected  about  him, 
numbering  five  thousand  men,  besides  women  and  children,  were 
waiting  to  receive  him. 

He  was  filled  with  compassion  for  them,  for  they  were  as  sheep 
having  no  shepherd.  No  doubt  the  tidings  of  John's  murder  in 
prison  was  fresh  among  them ;  and  our  Lord  knew  how  deeply  their 
hearts  felt  the  loss  of  such  a  teacher.     He  began  to  teach  them  in 


ASCENSION  OF  CHRIST. 

'Whilk  He  Blessed  Them.  He  was  Parted  from  Them,  and  Carried  up  into  Heaven." — Luke  24  :  51. 


WHERE  TWO  OR  THREE  ARE  GATHERED  TOGETHER  IN  MY  NAME, 
THERE  AM  I  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  THEM."— Matt.  18:  20. 


THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD. 


105 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFR  107 

this  little  temple  with  the  clear  blue  sky  above  them ;  and  was  not 
weary  of  teaching,  nor  they  of  listening,  until  late  in  the  afternoon, 
when  his  disciples  asked  him  to  send  them  away  before  nightfall. 
There  was  a  lad  in  the  crowd  who  had  brought  with  him  five  barley 
loaves  and  two  small  fishes,  most  likely  in  the  hope  of  selling  them 
among  so  many  persons,  and  pushing  himself  forward  in  the  crowd, 
as  lads  are  apt  to  do.  Jesus  bade  the  disciples  bring  them  to  him; 
Judas,  perhaps,  grudging  the  money  he  was  called  upon  to  spend  for 
such  a  purpose.  Then  he  told  them  to  make  the  company  sit  down 
in  fifties,  the  tall,  green  grass  forming  couches  for  them  on  which 
they  could  rest,  as  in  the  Paschal  supper  they  were  enjoined  to 
"  sit  down  leaning,"  not  standing,  as  if  they  were  slaves.  The 
command  of  our  Lord  was  well  understood  by  them ;  they  sat 
down  leaning  upon  these  natural  couches,  as  their  brethren  up  in 
Jerusalem  would  so  rest,  when  in  a  few  hours  they  would  eat  the 
Paschal  supper. 

It  was  a  suitable  ending  for  the  holiday.  The  sun  was  still 
shining  in  the  west,  nor  when  it  went  down  was  there  any  fear 
of  the  crowd  missing  the  way  to  their  homesteads,  for  the  full 
moon  was  ready  to  rise  beyond  the  eastern  hills,  flooding  every 
mountain  track,  and  every  narrow  village  street,  with  its  silver  light, 
The  season  was  the  most  delicious  of  all  the  year,  and  the  cool  air 
from  the  lake  was  sweet  and  fresh,  not  chilly  or  damp.  Children 
were  there,  some  stealing  up  to  the  Master's  feet,  and  maybe  getting 
a  piece  of  bread  from  his  hand;  their  laughter  and  their  voices 
mingling  with  the  graver  hum  of  older  people.  What  a  surprise, 
too,  for  the  disciples  as  they  began  to  understand  their  Master's 
purpose!  This  was  such  a  miracle  as  the  Messiah  was  expected 
to  perform.  A  table  furnished  in  the  wilderness,  as  in  the  times  of 
Moses,  when  he  gave  them  bread  from  heaven  to  eat  What  was 
giving  sight  to  a  few  blind  folk,  or  even  raising  from  the  dead  a 
widow's  son  in  a  distant  village,  compared  to  this  large,  public, 
kingly  miracle  of  feeding  thousands  of  his  followers  with  so  small  a 
store  of  provisions? 

There  was  but  one  happier  hour  for  them  in  the  future,  when  they 


loS  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

followed  their  Master  in  his  triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem,  a  yeai 
1  iter.  But  now  as  they  went  about  among  the  companies,  they 
spread  the  story  of  the  wonder  then  being  wrought,  until  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  people  outgrew  all  bounds  They  resolved  to 
lake  him  by  force  and  make  him  a  king,  sure  that  thousands  would 
now  flock  from  all  quarters  to  hail  him  as  the  Messiah.  This  was 
the  very  danger  Jesus  had  sought  carefully  to  avert,  as  it  would 
bring  him  and  his  party  into  collision  with  the  Roman  Government, 
whose  soldiers  were  garrisoned  in  many  parts  of  the  country.  He 
constrained  his  disciples,  who  were  unwilling  to  lose  this  hour  of 
promised  greatness,  to  set  sail,  and  go  on  before  him,  whilst  he  sent 
the  multitude  away  When  t/iey  were  gone,  whose  wishes  and  plans 
were  so  different  from  his  own,  he  dismissed  the  crowds,  who  obeyed 
him  the  more  readily  as  now  the  night  was  at  hand,  and  many  of 
them  had  far  to  go  on  foot 

At  last,  then,  Jesus  was  alone,  and,  in  need  of  rest  more  than  ever, 
in  need  of  a  moment  or  two  in  which  he  could  mourn  over  his 
friend,  in  need  of  close  communion  with  his  Father,  he  went  up 
into  the  mountain,  at  the  foot  of  which  he  had  been  laboring  all  day. 
The  Easter  moon  shone  down  upon  him  full  and  clear  out  of  the 
cloudless  sky,  and  lighted  up  the  waters  of  the  lake  in  which  his 
disciples  were  rowing  hard  against  the  wind  to  reach  the  point  of 
the  shore  he  had  directed  them  to  steer  for.  He  saw  them  driven 
out  of  their  course  by  the  wind  into  the  midst  of  the  lake ;  but  still 
he  lingered  on  the  mountain  side  hour  after  hour.  Is  it  possible  that, 
bowed  down  by  the  death  of  John,  a  foretaste  of  his  agony  in  Geth- 
semane  made  this  season  of  solitude  one  of  bitterness  and  sorrow  ■^ 
Was  his  soul  exceeding  sorrowful  within  as  he  watched  his 
iaithful  followers  toiling  on  the  lake  apart  from  him  ?  When  the 
next  passover  came,  the  eternal  parting  would  come,  when  they 
must  sail  out  into  the  fierce  storm  of  life  alone,  without  him  in  the 
ship;  living  by  the  faith  of  which  they  yet  showed  so  little  sign. 
Next  passover!  Where  would  they  be?  What  loss  would  they 
have  to  bear  then  ?     How  would  they  bear  it? 

Still  he  saw  them  tossing  about  on  the  rough  moon-lit  sea,  until, 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  109 

A'hen  the  fourth  watch  of  the  morning  was  near,  he  resolved  to  give 
them  a  proof  of  his  power,  which,  in  after  years,  every  moonlight 
night,  and  every  fresh  burst  of  life's  storm,  would  bring  to  their 
minds.  They,  looking  across  the  stormy  waves,  beheld  him  walking 
toward  them  on  the  sea ;  and  they  cried  aloud  with  fear  and  trouble, 
for  their  Lord  was  coming  to  them  strangely,  in  no  familiar  manner. 
Peter,  bolder  than  the  rest,  attempted  to  go  to  meet  him,  but  his 
courasfe  failed,  and  he  would  have  sunk  but  for  the  outstretched  hand 
of  his  Master.  When  they  entered  into  the  boat,  the  wind  ceased, 
and  they,  not  considering  the  miracle  of  the  loaves  and  fishes,  were 
sore  amazed  within  themselves,  beyond  measure.  Their  Master, 
possessing  this  marvelous  power,  still  refused  to  be  made  a  kingi 
Their  hearts,  too  hard  yet  to  understand,  could  not  perceive  why  he 
steadily  opposed  all  such  ambition. 

'  They  landed  on  the  plain  of  Gennesaret,  and  walked  northward  to 
Capernaum,  where  they  were  met  by  numbers  of  those  who  had  been 
fed  in  the  desert  the  day  before.  It  was  the  first  day  of  the  passover, 
a  solemn  Sabbath,  and  Jesus  taught  in  the  synagogue  openly,  and 
without  any  opposition,  except  the  murmurs  of  those  who  were 
disappointed  by  his  steady  rejection  of  their  desire  to  proclaim  him 
king.  His  most  hostile  enemies,  the  Pharisees,  were  necessarily 
absent  at  the  passover  in  Jerusalem.  But  from  that  day  many  of  his 
disciples  in  Galilee  left  him,  not  being  able  to  hear  or  rather  to  under- 
stand the  hard  sayings,  and  the  reproaches  with  which  he  met  them. 
"  Ye  seek  me,"  he  said,  "  because  ye  did  eat  of  the  loaves,  and 
were  filled."  Their  love  for  him  was  too  earthy  to  bear  the  test  he 
proposed  to  them,  so  they  went  back,  and  walked  no  more  with  him. 

"Will  ye  also  go  away?"  asked  Jesus,  sadly,  of  his  twelve  apostles. 
"  Lord,  to  whom  should  we  go  ?  "  cried  Peter ;  "  thou  hast  the  words 
of  eternal  life.  And  we  believe  and  are  sure  that  thou  art  that  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God."  "  Not  all,"  he  answered ;  "  have  not  I 
chosen  you  twelve,  and  one  of  you  is  a  devil  ?  "  Already  he  could 
point  out  the  traitor  in  his  little  camp.  Probably  Judas  had  made 
himself  unusually  busy  the  day  before  in  urging  on  the  crowd  to  make 
him  king  by  force.     They  all  longed  for  him  to  assert  his  claims ;  his 


no  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

brethren  were  constantly  urging  him  to  manifest  himself;  John  anH 
James  asked  him  to  promise  them  the  chief  places  in  his  kingdom 
but  Judas  looked  forward  to  be  the  treasurer  of  all  the  wealth  of  the 
Messiah  King  of  Judaea,  and  no  voice  had  been  louder  the  day  before 
and  no  disciple  so  reluctant  to  obey,  when  he  constrained  them  to  set 
sail  and  leave  him  alone  with  the  multitude.  "  Have  not  I  chosen 
you  twelve,  and  one  of  you  is  a  devil  ?  "  Judas  was  to  live  in  close 
fellowship  with  him  for  a  whole  year  longer;  but  even  Christ  could 
not  cast  out  of  him  this  demon  of  covetousness,  whilst  he  was 
cherishing  it  in  his  secret  heart 


CHAPTER  XII.— IN  THE  NORTH. 


URING  this  quiet  week,  with  his  enemies  away, 
Jesus  was  busily  occupied  in  the  plain  of  Genes- 
aret  and  the  region  lying  about,  where,  as  he 
passed  along  the  roads  or  through  the  streets, 
sick  people  were  laid,  that  they  might  touch  if  it 
were  but  the  hein  of  his  garment.  But  this 
undisturbed,  unopposed  course  of  kindly  healing 
i  .^'  ^ jjl^  ^"^^  of  teaching  ended  as  soon  as  the  Pharisees 
v_'«;^  j^^  hastened  back  from  Jerusalem,  not  willing  to  remain 
at  home  until  they  had  got  him  into  their  power 
They  began  by  accusing  him  of  setting  aside  the  tradi- 
tion of  the  elders — an  accusation  he  did  not  deny.  But  he  answered 
them  sternly,  calling  them  hypocrites,  and  pointing  out  how  they  set 
aside  the  commandments  of  God.  He  deeply  offended  them  by  this 
reply,  and  the  old  danger  of  dwelling  in  Capernaum  revived  in 
greater  force.  Besides  this,  it  was  well  known  that  Herod,  the 
murderer  of  John,  had  a  great  desire  to  see  Jesus ;  Joanna,  the  wife 
of  Herod's  steward,  probably  warning  him  of  this  danger.  Herod's 
city,  Tiberias,  was  on  the  western  coast  of  the  lake,  south  of  the  plain 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE  m 

of  Gennesaret,  where  Jesus  had  lately  been  journeying.  It  was  not 
more  than  ten  miles  from  Capernaum ;  and  our  Lord  must  often  have 
been  very  near  it,  though  it  does  not  seem  that  he  ever  entered  it. 

It  was  only  a  few  weeks  since  Jesus  had  been  compelled  to  quit 
Jerusalem  and  Judaea;  and  now  he  found  it  needful  to  withdraw  from 
the  busy,  crowded  coasts  of  the  lake  of  Galilee,  and  to  seek  the  west 
of  Galilee,  where  he  was  less  known,  and  where  he  could  quietly 
instruct  his  apostles,  who  as  yet  knew  little  of  the  message  they  were 
to  teach  when  he  was  gone.  He  went  further  north  than  he  had  ever 
traveled,  to  the  very  confines  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  to  the  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean  sea,  so  vast  and  limitless,  compared  with  the  little 
lake  of  Galilee.  But  even  here  he  could  not  be  hid ;  for  a  certain 
woman,  no  Jewess,  but  a  Gentile,  who  had  already  become  acquainted 
with  his  name,  no  sooner  heard  of  him  than  she  came,  and,  falling  at 
his  feet,  besought  him  to  heal  her  daughter,  who  was  possessed  by  a 
devil.  Jesus  did  so,  as  a  recompense  of  her  own  faith,  praising  it,  as 
he  had  done  the  faith  of  the  Roman  centurion,  no  doubt  to  the 
bewilderment  of  his  disciples,  who  did  not  yet  know,  what  the 
Samaritans  had  known,  that  he  was  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

From  this  northwestern  limit  Jesus  and  his  disciples,  probably 
never  staying  long  in  the  same  place,  made  their  way  gradually  back 
to  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake  of  Galilee,  where  they  were  in  the 
tetrarchy  of  Philip.  The  country  through  which  they  passed  was 
more  beautiful  than  the  more  southern  parts  of  Galilee.  They 
journeyed  under  the  range  of  Hermon,  and  passed  the  high  hill 
of  Bashan,  with  the  upper  Jordan  and  the  waters  of  Merom  on 
their  left  hand,  in  the  month  of  May,  whilst  the  harvest  was  going 
on.  A  time  of  rest  and  possible  happiness.  Who  was  there  besides 
the  chosen  twelve  we  do  not  know.  Where  they  tarried  and  lodged, 
what  route  they  took,  we  do  not  know.  But  at  length  they  reached 
that  inhospitable  coast,  where  once  before  the  inhabitants  had 
besought  the  Lord  not  to  sojourn  with  them. 

But  the  fierce  demoniac,  whom  Jesus  had  left  to  bear  witness  of 
him,  had  changed  the  minds  of  the  people  with  regard  to  a  second 
visit  from,  this  mighty  prophet.     They  wera  now  willing  to  receive 


112  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

him,  and  they  brought  to  him  a  man  who  was  deaf,  and  had  an 
impediment  in  his  speech.  He  led  him  away  from  the  crowd,  who 
in  this  country  must  have  been  half  of  them  heathen,  with  no  motive 
influencing  their  coming  to  him  save  that  of  curiosity.  For  th 
same  reason,  probably,  to  avoid  the  danger  and  distraction  of  a  number 
of  curious  followers,  he  bade  the  man  and  his  friends  to  tell  no  one 
of  his  cure ;  but  they,  not  at  all  undc'^tanding  his  motive,  proclaimed 
the  miracle  about  all  that  region.  Great  multitudes  in  consequence 
came  unto  him,  having  with  them  lame,  the  blind,  dumb,  maimed, 
and  many  others,  and  he  healed  them  all,  even  though  many  of  them 
were  heathen,  as  if  now  he  would  teach  his  disciples  that  the  blessings 
he  brought  to  earth  were  not  to  be  confined  to  the  Jewish  nation. 
And  the  people  glorified  the  God  of  Israel. 

Three  days  this  mixed  multitude  remained  with  Jesus.  He  appears 
to  have  been  dwelling  upon  one  of  the  mountains  on  the  shore  of 
the  lake,  sleeping  in  the  open  air,  as  they  must  have  done,  for  it  was 
now  the  early  summer,  and  the  nights  were  warm.  On  the  third  day, 
when  their  provisions  were  exhausted,  he  said  to  his  disciples,  "  I  have 
compassion  on  this  multitude,  and  I  will  not  send  them  away  fasting, 
lest  they  faint  by  the  way,"  We  often  wonder  how  the  disciples  could 
have  been  so  dull  as  to  answer  in  the  manner  they  did,  after  the 
feeding  of  the  five  thousand  on  the  passover  eve.  But  we  must 
remember  that  in  the  former  case  the  crowd  consisted  only  of  Jews, 
to  whom  they  considered  the  Messiah  sent;  in  this  the  multitude  was 
more  than  half  heathen,  of  the  same  race  as  those  who  had  rejected 
Christ  when  he  first  landed  on  their  shores.  The  disciples  were 
jealous  of  these  heathen  followers,  who  brought  discredit  upon  their 
Master  among  his  own  nation.  They  probably  thought  it  impolitic  for 
him  to  eat  as  he  did  with  publicans  and  sinners,  though  they  were  at 
least  sons  of  Abraham,  whilst  these  were  Gentiles,  who  had  no 
part  in  the  Messiah.  More  willing  would  even  Judas  have  been  to 
exhaust  their  little  purse  in  buying  bread  than  see  him  feed  them  as 
he  had  fed  his  own  people. 

But  Jesus  could  not  be  influenced  by  any  such  reasons.  These, 
like  the  Jews,  were  also  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd.     He  repeated 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  113 

his  miracle  for  them,  spreading  a  table  for  them  in  the  wilderness,  as 
he  had  done  for  his  fellow-countrymen,  noticing  the  women  and 
children,  who  were  won  to  him  by  his  tenderness,  giving  thanks  to  the 
Father  of  all,  as  though  all  there  were  his  children,  as  well  as  the 
descendants  of  Abraham,  his  ancient  friend.  There  seems  to  have 
been  no  excitement  among  them  as  there  had  been  among  the 
Galileans,  who  had  wished  to  make  him  a  king  by  force.  The 
disciples  themselves  did  not  seek  to  fan  any  such  excitement.  The 
crowd  separated  at  his  bidding,  and  he  passed  over  the  lake  into  the 
near  neighborhood  of  Magdala,  a  village  within  two  miles  of  Tiberias, 
Herod's  chief  city.  We  know  he  had  friends  in  Herod's  household ; 
and  during  the  three  days  he  had  been  staying  on  the  opposite  shore 
he  might  easily  have  received  tidings  that  there  was  no  immediate 
danger  in  thus  venturing  into  the  close  neighborhood  of  Tiberias. 

But  though  we  cannot  suppose  that  the  Pharisees  from  Jerusalem 
had  remained  so  long  in  Galilee,  other  Pharisees,  whose  hostility  they 
had  aroused  against  Jesus,  very  soon  discovered  his  return  among 
them,  and  came  to  him  with  the  old  demand  for  some  sign  from  heaven. 
Some  Sadducees  were  now  joined  with  them,  a  sect  with  still  greater 
political  power  than  themselves,  as  the  high  priests  and  their  families 
and  most  of  the  aristocracy  were  at  this  time  belonging  to  it,  though 
it  possessed  very  much  less  religious  influence  over  the  nation.  This 
union  of  political  with  religious  power  made  the  danger  still  greater 
to  Jesus ;  and  once  more  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  western 
shores  and  seek  safety  in  the  comparatively  friendly  country  of  Philip, 
the  tetrarch  of  Iturea. 

On  the  eastern  banks  of  the  upper  Jordan,  close  upon  its  fall  into 
the  lake  of  Galilee,  still  in  Philip's  dominions,  stood  Bethsaida;  and 
our  Lord,  who  was  now  retracing  his  steps  to  the  north,  where  he 
had  before  spent  some  time  afar  from  his  enemies,  came  to  this 
place  on  his  way.  A  blind  man  was  brought  to  him,  and  he  took 
him  by  the  hand  and  led  him  out  of  the  town  to  restore  to  him 
his  sight;  then  bade  him  neither  to  go  back  to  the  town,  nor  to 
tell  it  to  any  of  the  townsfolk.  He  wished  to  avoid,  if  possible,  any 
stir  in  this  place,  where  he  was  so  well  known ;  for  it  was  not  more 


114 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


than  an  hour's  walk  to  Capernaum,  which  he  had  not  visited  since  the 
Pharisees  had  returned  to  it,  after  the  passover.     Almost  as  a  fugitive 

now  he  was  pass- 
ing through  a  town 
where  he  had  done 
many  of  his  mighty 
works,  and  many  of 
whose  inhabitant- 
had  eaten  of  tiu- 
food  he  had  multi- 
pHed  by  miracle  in 
the  wilderness.  Al- 
ready his  heart  was 
heavy  with  the  woe 
he  afterwards  pro- 
nounced against  it. 
Here  he  must  hide 
his  miracle  of  restor- 
ing sight  to  one  blind 
man,  where  hun- 
dreds had  been  wit- 
nesses of  greater 
works  than  this. 

Heavy-hearted, 
his  disciples  follow- 
ing   him    with   be- 
wildered spirits  and 
disappointed  hopes, 
Jesus  went  on  north- 
ward   to     the     vil- 
lages near  Csesarea 
Philippi,  a  summer 
city,  which  Philip  the  tetrarch  had  built  among  the  hills  of  Hermon, 
close  to  the  easternmost  source  of  the  Jordan,  where  a  number  of 
rivulets  form  first  a  small  pool  of  water  and  then  a  stream,  rushing 


'HE  TOOK  THE  BLIND  MAN  BY  THE  HAND,  AND  LED  HIM  OUT 
OF  THE  TOWN."— Mark  vni,  23. 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE  115 

through  the  thickets  on  the  hill-side.  It  was  the  loveliest  spot  whithei 
the  wanderings  of  Jesus  had  led  him.  The  sultry  heat  of  the  lake  of 
Galilee  was  here  exchanged  for  the  cool  shadows  of  groves  of  trees, 
and  its  sandy  shores  for  a  carpet  of  turf.  Numberless  brooks  wound 
through  the  fields,  scarcely  to  be  dried  up  by  the  summer  sun ;  for  far 
above  them  rose  the  snowy  peak  of  Hermon,  glistening  against  the 
burning  sky.  It  was  such  a  place  as  he  must  have  delighted  in,  if  his 
heart  had  been  less  wounded  by  enmity,  and  his  spirit  less  clouded  by 
the  sure  end  which  he  saw  coming  nearer  and  nearer  upon  him. 

He  did  not  here  hide  himself,  as  he  had  done  near  Capernaum. 
He  called  the  people  about  him — the  summer  crowds,  who  had 
probably  come  north  from  the  hotter  atmosphere  of  the  lower  lands — 
and  asked  them,  among  other  teaching,  "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man, 
if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  "  a  solemn  question 
for  these  holiday-makers  to  consider.  It  was  here  that  Peter  declared 
emphatically  that  he  believed  his  Master  to  be  the  Messiah,  the  Son 
of  the  living  God,  in  spite  of  all  his  own  disappointment,  and  the 
mysterious  deeds  and  sayings  of  his  Lord.  But  when  Jesus  proceeded 
to  speak  niore  plainly  to  his  apostles  of  the  certain  death  which  must 
be  the  end  of  the  enmity  which  he  excited,  Peter  could  not  bear  it. 
He  knew  that  as  the  Messiah  his  Lord  had  power  to  subdue  his  foes ; 
nay,  the  prophecies  declared  that  so  should  the  Messiah  act.  It 
seemed  to  him  so  extraordinary  a  contradiction,  not  only  of  his  own 
hopes,  but  of  all  the  prophets  had  said  concerning  it,  that  he  began  to 
rebuke  his  Lord.  Jesus  so  answered  him  that  never  more  did  any  of 
his  disciples  interfere  by  remonstrance  or  objection  to  anything  their 
Master  did.  "  Let  us  go  also,  that  we  may  die  with  him,"  was  aJ) 
they  could  say,  when  he  seemed  to  run  into  needless  danger. 


CHAPTER  XII!.— AT  HOME  ONCE  MORE. 


UT  though  Jesus  had  rebuked  Peter,  he  knew  well 
the  condition  of  mind  that  had  made  him  speak 
so  rashly.  Six  days  after  he  took  him  with  John 
and  James  into  one  of  the  high,  solitary  peaks  of 
the  range  of  Hermon,  under  which  they  had  been 
sojourning.  The  ascent  was  a  long  one,  and  all 
the  stillness  of  the  mountains  gathered  round 
them  as  they  climbed  higher  and  higher  into  the 
purer  kir.  They  could  see  stretching  southward 
their  own  land,  which  offered  no  sure  resting  place 
to  their  Master.  The  white  snows  glistened  above  them, 
and  all  the  solemn  influences  of  silence,  and  loneliness, 
and  separation,  wrapped  them  round.  They  forgot  the  sorrows  of 
the  past  weeks  as  the  Lord  prayed  with  them  on  the  mountain- 
height,  lifted  far  above  all  the  cares  and  ambitions  of  the  earth 
beneath.  Then,  as  Jesus  prayed,  a  glory  shone  about  him,  which 
transfigured  his  beloved  face,  and  made  his  raiment  white  and 
glistening  as  the  snow,  which  dazzled  them  in  the  sunshine.  And 
whilst,  with  dazzled  eyes,  they  gazed  upon  him,  two  forms  of  Moses 
and  Elias,  the  greatest  of  the  prophets,  appeared  to  them,  talking  with 
Jesus.  Their  wondering  ears  heard  them  talk,  not  of  the  triumphs 
and  conquests  of  Messiah's  kingdom,  but  of  the  death  which  they 
shrank  from  thinking  of  How  long  they  listened  to  this  heavenly 
discourse  we  do  not  know ;  but  at  length,  sore  afraid  as  they  were, 
Peter  spoke,  not  knowing  what  to  say.  "  Master,"  he  said,  "  it  is 
good  for  us  to  be  here ;  and  let  us  make  three  tabernacles,  one  for 
thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elias."  Never  would  he 
choose  to  go  down  to  the  earth  and  common  life  again,  if  this 
heavenly  vision  would  but  remain.  Even  then,  as  he  finished  speak- 
ing, a  cloud  overshadowed  them,  and  a  voice  was  heard  to  come  ovi 

Ii6 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  117 

of  the  cloud,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son ;  hear  him."  And  suddenly 
all  had  vanished,  and  there  was  no  man  any  more,  save  Jesus  only, 
with  themselves. 

It  seems  as  if  they  stayed  all  night  in  the  solemn  stillness  of  the 
mountain,  listening  to  much  their  Master  had  to  tell  them,  and  asking 
him  such  questions  as  came  first  to  their  minds.  He  told  them  that 
he  should  rise  again  the  third  day  after  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees 
had  slain  him ;  but  they  kept  that  saying  with  themselves,  questioning 
what  it  meant,  and  not  venturing  to  ask  him  for  his  meaning.  When 
the  morning  came  they  began  their  long  descent  to  the  valley  below, 
at  every  lingering  step  drawing  nearer  to  the  stir  and  tumult  of  life, 
which  they  had  desired  to  escape  from,  and  which  seemed  so  much 
poorer  and  more  paltry  than  it  had  ever  done  before. 

As  they  drew  near  to  the  valley  they  saw  a  great  multitude  of 
people  surrounding  the  rest  of  the  disciples;  but  as  soon  as  they 
themselves  were  in  sight,  all  the  crowd,  beholding  Jesus,  were  greatly 
amazed,  and,  running  to  him,  saluted  him.  It  would  seem  as  though 
some  gleam  of  the  indescribable  glory  still  lingered  in  his  face,  as  the 
face  of  Moses  shone  when  he  had  been  speaking  with  the  Lord  in 
Mount  Sinai.  Some  scribes  were  there  who  had  been  questioning  the 
nine  apostles,  and  Jesus  asked  them  what  they  had  wanted.  One  of 
the  crowd  replied  that  he  had  brought  his  son,  who  was  possessed 
with  a  devil,  and  as  the  Master  was  away,  he  had  asked  his  disciples 
to  cast  him  out,  and  they  could  not.  Very  probably  they  had 
attempted  to  do  so,  and  had  failed,  so  arousing  a  great  excitement 
among  the  bys,tanders.  The  poor  father's  hope  had  been  crushed,  and 
his  faith  weakened,  if  not  destroyed.  "  O  faithless  generation  I  "  cried 
Jesus,  "  how  long  shall  I  be  with  you  ?  hovv^  long  shall  I  suffer  you  ? 
oring  him  unto  me."  Then,  speaking  to  the  father,  he  said,  "  If  thou 
canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth."  He, 
looking  into  the  divine  face  before  him,  cried  out  with  tears,  "  Lord,  I 
believe;  help  thou  my  unbelief."  That  was  enough;  his  son  was 
restored  to  him,  and  Jesus,  passing  on,  went  into  the  house  where  he 
and  his  disciples  were  sojourning,  worn  out  with  the  exhausting  events 
ol"  the  last  twenty-four  hours. 


1 18  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

After  this  Jesus  returned  quietly  through  Galilee,  wishing  no  man 
to  know  it.  Some  of  his  disciples,  on  this  journey,  disputed  among 
themselves  as  to  which  should  be  the  greatest,  so  little  prepared  were 
they  for  the  end  which  he  foresaw  so  plainly.  He  taught  them  what 
that  end  must  be,  but  they  did  not  understand  him,  and  were  afraid  to 
ask  him.  But  we  must  remember  that  the  nine  had  not  heard  of  the 
solemn  transfiguration  on  the  mount ;  for  Jesus  had  straitly  charged 
the  three  that  they  should  tell  no  man. 

As  they  approached  Capernaum  they  found  that  at  last  it  was  safe 
to  enter  it,  after  their  wanderings,  and  to  be  at  home  once  more.  The 
hottest  months  of  the  year  were  come,  when  there  was  almost  a 
burning  heat  in  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  lake 
of  Galilee ;  and  very  likely  the  wealthiest  and  most  influential  persons 
of  the  towns  on  the  lake  were  gone  away,  or,  at  least,  were  less 
inclined  to  active  exertions.  Neither  do  any  crowds  seem  to  gather 
about  Jesus,  who  indeed  kept  himself  aloof  from  any  public  display. 
He  spent  his  time  in  teaching  his  disciples  and  such  persons  as  came 
to  him,  trying  to  prepare  their  minds  for  what  was  to  come,  and  to  fit 
them  for  their  future  work.  A  peaceful,  happy  few  weeks  for  Mary, 
who  had  her  Son  again  beside  her  for  a  little  while ;  yet  her  heart 
would  sink  often  as  she  heard  his  sayings,  and  began  to  see  with  a 
mother's  fearful  eye  that  no  throne  awaited  him  in  the  city  of  David. 

It  seems  to  have  been  his  last  sojourn  in  Capernaum,  a  quiet 
breathing  time,  in  which  he  could  taste  once  more  the  peace  and  rest 
of  a  home.  Children  were  about  him ;  and  besides  his  mother,  the 
women  who  were  his  friends  and  disciples,  and  whose  greatest 
gladness  was  to  minister  to  him.  We  may  suppose  that  some  of  the 
apostles  would  resume  for  the  time  their  fishing  on  the  lake,  and  that 
James  and  John  would  dwell  again  under  their  father's  roof  When 
they  gathered  together  in  the  cool  of  the  evening  Jesus  taught  them 
the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  not  in  parables,  as  he  taught 
others.  Now  he  put  into  precept  and  commandment  that  which  he 
had  set  before  them  by  his  example.  They  were  to  tread  in  his  steps, 
CO  go  about  doing  good ;  to  find  it  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive ;  to  forgive  their  enemies ;  to  be  perfect  even  as  their  Father  in 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE 


119 


Hard  lessons  I     Yet  the  seed   fell   upon 


hidden   there   for  some    months,  finally  brought 


good 
forth 


heaven  was  perfect 

ground,  and 

fruit  a  hundred-fold. 

Before  long,  however,  the  peace  of  this  short  truce  with  his  foes 
was  disturbed  by  the  approach  of  the  autumnal  Feast  of  Tabernacles. 
It  was  that  joyous  feast,  after  harvest  and  before  the  rains  of  winter, 
which  attracted  so  many  of  the  country  folks  up  to  Jerusalem,  to 
dwell  m  booths  for  a  week;  when  each  worshipper  carried  to  tht 
temple  branches  of  citron  and  myrtle,  willow  and  palm,  in  his  hands , 
and  each  day  a  glad  procession  attended  a  priest  to  fetch  water  from 
the  pool  of  Siloam  in  a  golden  pitcher,  to  be  afterwards  poureu  at  the 
base  of  the  altar.  Even  the  nights  were  made  jubilant  with  services 
in  the  temple,  the  lights  in  which  lit  up  the  housetops  of  Jerusalem, 
with  their  booths  of  thick  branches,  and  shone  afar  off  in  the  darkness ' 
whilst  the  sound  of  song,  and  the  music  of  harps  and  lutes,  cymbals 
and  trumpets,  echoed  far  and  near 
in  the  stillness  of  the  night.  _  --—^ 

The  cousins  of  our  Lord,  who 
would  naturally  be  more  impatient 
even  than  his  other  disciples  for  a 
public  assertion  of  his  claims,  now 
began  to  urge  him  to  go  up  to  the 
feast,  which  they  were  about  to 
attend.  We  cannot  suppose  that 
they  did  not  believe  in  him  at  all ; 
they  knew  him  to  be  mighty  in 
works   and    in   words ;    and   they 

desired  ambitiously  that  he  should  display  his  power  to  his  disciples 
in  Judaea,  though  they  could  not  have  been  ignorant  of  the  dangei"^ 
he  must  run.  But  as  yet  they  did  not  believe  him  to  be  the  Son  of 
God.  They  could  not  understand  his  conduct,  in  claiming  so  much^ 
yet  refusing  to  be  made  a  king,  or  at  least  the  leader  of  a  popular 
party  against  the  Romans.  Possibly  they  may  have  thought  that 
if  Jesus  joined  the  caravan  of  pilgrims  starting  for  the  feast,  he  would 
not  be  able  to  withdraw  himself  from  their  enthusiasm,  and  would  be 


ON   THE   HOUSETOP. 


I20  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

carried  forward  to  Jerusalem  as  their  Messiah,  when  multitudes,  who 
hated  the  Roman  yoke,  would  rise  to  join  him,  and  he  would  be 
forced  to  assume  the  position  they  wished  for  him  to  take. 

But  Jesus,  discerning  their  motives,  bade  them  go  up  to  the  feast 
alone ;  whilst  he  remained  behind  in  Galilee,  until  after  the  caravan, 
with  its  ever-increasing  band  of  enthusiastic  pilgrims,  had  gone  on. 
Then,  with  his  own  little  band  of  faithful  friends,  he  set  out  for 
Jerusalem  through  Samaria,  the  nearest  and  least  frequented  route. 
In  fact,  no  other  pilgrims  were  likely  to  choose  this  way ;  for  when 
Jesus  himself  sent  forward  some  messengers  to  a  village  in  Samaria, 
to  make  ready  for  them,  the  inhabitants  would  not  supply  them  with 
any  necessaries,  would  not  even  receive  them  into  the  village,  because 
their  journey  was  toward  Jerusalem.  But  when  James  and  John 
asked  if  they  should  not  copy  the  example  of  Elijah,  and  call  down 
fire  from  heaven  to  consume  them,  Jesus  rebuked  them,  uttering  one 
of  the  sayings  which  all  his  life  through  had  been  his  motto,  "The 
Son  of  man  is  not  come  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save  them." 
And  they  went  to  another  village  less  bigoted,  where,  perhaps,  he  was 
known  as  the  prophet  who  had  passed  by  that  way  early  in  the  year. 

At  the  feast  there  was  a  good  deal  of  argument  and  discussion 
about  Jesus.  He  was  sought  for  in  the  temple,  amid  the  worshippers 
with  their  palm  branches,  but  he  was  not  to  be  found.  Quietly  all  the 
people  were  talking  about  him,  some  saying,  "  He  is  a  good  man ; " 
others,  "  Nay,  but  he  deceiveth  the  people."  The  Pharisees  had 
already  widely  spread  their  opinion  that  he  was  an  impostor,  and  his 
miracles  deceptions,  by  which  the  people  were  misled.  But  no  one 
spoke  openly  of  him  for  fear  of  the  Sanhedrim,  who  possessed  the 
dreaded  power  of  casting  an  offender  out  of  the  synagogue,  a  punish- 
ment similar  to  that  of  excommunication. 

In  the  midst  of  the  feast,  however,  Jesus  appeared  in  the  temple, 
not  quietly  either,  but  openly  in  his  office  as  teacher  and  prophet. 
The  people  were  amazed  at  his  boldness,  and  equally  amazed  at  the 
inactivity  of  the  Sanhedrim,  who  seemed  reluctant  to  interfere  with 
him  at  the  first.  They  were  in  truth  privately  planning  how  to  take 
him ;  but  the  feasts  were  so  often  the  occasion  of  riot  and  confusion 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  lar 

that  they  sought  rather  to  lay  hands  on  him  in  secret,  so  as  to  avoid 
any  open  disturbance.  This  the  constant  presence  of  his  disciples 
and  friends  from  Galilee  made  impossible  during  the  week  of  the  feast 
On  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of  the  feast,  when  the  priests  marched 
seven  times  round  the  altar,  singing  Hosannah,  and  the  leaves  were 
shaken  off  the  willow  boughs  in  the  hands  of  the  worshippers,  and  the 
water  from  Siloam  was  poured  for  the  last  time  on  the  altar,  then 
Jesus  stood  forth,  before  the  crowded  congregation,  and  cried,  "  If  any 
man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink." 

Many  of  the  people  upon  hearing  this  saying,  and  feeling  the  awful 
courage  of  any  prophet  standing  thus  in  their  midst,  and  cr}ang  aloud 
words  of  such  meaning,  could  not  but  believe  that  he  was  of  a  truth 
the  Christ.  Others  asked,  "  Shall  Christ  come  out  of  Galilee  ?  "  And 
there  was  a  division  among  them,  some  being  even  willing  to  take 
him ;  but  no  man  laid  hands  on  him.  The  temple  officers,  who  had 
been  sent  by  the  Sanhedrim  to  arrest  him  and  bring  him  before  them, 
were  so  impressed  by  his  words  and  manner  of  speaking,  that  they 
dared  not  touch  him,  but  chose  rather  to  return  to  their  masters,  and 
own  that  never  man  spake  like  him.  The  Pharisees  answered  sharply 
that  they,  too,  were  deceived,  though  none  of  the  rulers  or  Pharisees 
had  believed  on  him ;  none  but  the  common  people,  who  were  too 
ignorant  to  know  the  law.  Nicodemus,  who  was  his  disciple,  though 
secretly,  now  ventured  to  remonstrate,  but  met  with  a  sharp  and 
sneering  reply.  After  which  every  man  went  home ;  and  Nicodemus 
probably  took  care  that  Jesus  should  be  w^arned  of  the  plots  of  the 
Pharisees. 


CHAPTER  XIV.— THE   LAST  AUTUMN. 


ROM  that  time  Jesus  appears  to  have  spent  his 

nights    out    of   Jerusalem,    only    venturing    to 

appear  there   in   the   daytime,  when  his  friends 

were  about  him.     On  the  eastern  slope  of  the 

Mount  of  Olives,  about  two  miles  from  Jerusalem, 

was  a  small  village  called   Bethany.     This  low 

mountain  was  henceforth  to  be  his  favorite  haunt, 

and  this  village  his  most  frequent  home.     There 

lived  in  it  a  family  of  friends  whom  he  loved  dearly, 

with    a    marked    and  special   friendship.     They   were 

t^'      '       people  of  some    importance,  and  were  well  known    in 

Jerusalem ;  and  it  was  now,  probably,  that  they  often  received 

him  into  their  house  as  their  beloved  guest. 

Early  on  the  first  Sabbath  day,  after  the  feast  of  Tabernacles,  Jesus 
came  to  the  temple,  and  sat  down  to  teach  in  the  treasury,  which  was 
a  colonnade  surrounding  the  court  for  women,  the  usual  place  for 
v/orship.  Here,  of  course,  most  of  the  congregation  could  both  see 
and  hear  him ;  and  especially  those  who  paused  to  cast  in  their  gifts 
into  the  trumpet-shaped  chests  which  stood  against  the  wall.  His 
teaching  was  interrupted  by  the  questions  and  remarks  of  the 
Pharisees,  who  grew  more  and  more  malicious,  until,  at  length,  after 
-ailing  him  a  Samaritan,  and  telling  him  he  had  a  devil,  they  madly 
gathered  up  the  stones  which  were  lying  by  to  be  used  in  repairing 
part  of  the  building,  and  would  have  stoned  him  to  death  in  the 
courts  of  the  temple  itself,  had  he  not  hid  himself  from  them,  and 
passed  by  through  their  midst.  No  riot  ensued,  for,  now  the  feast 
was  over,  the  great  mass  of  people  were  dispersed ;  and  this,  probably, 
gave  them  the  courage  to  attack  him  thus  suddenly  and  openly. 

But  no  danger  to  himself  could  hinder  him  from  a  Avork  of  mercy, 
A_s  he  was  passing  from  the  temple  his  disciples  called  his  attention 


LAZARUS. 


124  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

to  a  blind  man,  who  was,  perhaps,  begging  at  the  gate  by  which  they 
left  the  temple. 

From  this  gate,  which  was  at  the  northwest  of  the  temple  enclosure, 
there  ran  a  causeway  down  into  the  lower  city,  where  the  poorer 
classes,  to  whom  the  blind  beggar  belonged,  had  their  shops  and 
houses.  The  disciples  asked  him  which  had  sinned,  the  man  or  his 
parents,  that  he  should  be  born  blind.  Jesus  answered  them  this 
blindness  was  no  effect  of  sin  either  in  himself  or  his  parents ;  and, 
repeating  the  words  with  which  he  had  begun  his  sermon  in  the 
temple,  "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world,"  he  anointed  the  poor  man's 
eyes  with  clay,  and  bade  him  go  to  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam. 
Siloam  lay  south  of  the  temple  mount,  and  many  a  joyous  procession 
had  gone  down  to  it  for  water  during  the  feast.  The  blind  beggar 
had  to  make  his  way  through  the  busiest  streets  of  the  lower  city,  his 
eyes  smeared  with  the  clay.  He  must  have  been  very  well  known  in 
this  poor  neighborhood,  and  when  he  came  back  from  Siloam,  with 
his  sight  restored,  there  was  a  great  excitement.  Some  among  them 
disputed  whether  he  was  the  blind  beggar  or  no.  They  gathered 
about  him,  asking  how  his  eyes  had  been  opened,  and  he  told  them 
frankly  all  he  knew.  This  Jesus,  who  was  spoken  of  as  one  of  those 
impostors  who  deceived  the  people  of  Galilee  by  false  miracles, 
was  he  who  had  restored  sight  to  him,  although  he  had  been 
born   blind. 

The  escape  of  Jesus  from  their  sudden  attack  must  have  left  the 
Pharisees  in  a  state  of  irritated  disappointment;  and  their  vexation 
was  certainly  not  lessened  when  a  throng  of  people  from  the  lower 
city  brought  to  them  a  man  upon  whom  such  a  wonderful  miracle  had 
been  wrought  at  the  very  moment  of  his  escape.  They  had  been 
carefully  fostering  the  opinion  that  Jesus  was  an  impostor,  and  here 
was  direct  proof  to  the  contrary.  They  could  seize  only  upon  the 
one  point  which  might  be  made  to  bear  an  evil  aspect — "  This  man  is 
not  of  God,  because  he  keepeth  not  the  Sabbath  day."  But  some  of 
the  Pharisees  themselves  objected  to  this,  asking,  "  How  can  a  man 
that  is  a  sinner  do  such  miracles  ? "  There  was  a  division  among 
them.     They  even  referred  to  the  beggar,  asking  him  what  he  said  of 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  125 

the  man  who  had  opened  his  eyes.     "He  is  a  prophet,"  he  answered, 
unhesitatingly. 

Upon  this  they  professed  not  to  beheve  that  the  man  had  been 
bhnd,  and  they  sent  for  his  parents,  both  father  and  mother.  The\ 
were  timid  people,  poor,  of  course,  in  circumstances,  and  therefore 
the  more  afraid  of  being  turned  out  of  the  synagogue,  and  so  of 
losing  their  livelihood.  They  could  not  afford  to  be  bold  in  behalf 
of  their  son.  "  He  is  of  age,"  said  the  poor,  trembling  parents;  "we 
know  he  is  our  son,  and  that  he  was  born  blind,  but  we  do  not  know 
anything  else.  He  shall  speak  for  himself"  It  may  have  been,  it 
probably  was,  the  first  time  the  man's  eyes  had  seen  his  father  and 
mother ;  he  knew  their  voices,  but  their  faces  he  now  looked  upon  with 
his  new  power  of  sight,  marveling,  no  doubt,  at  the  strange  world  at 
ince  opened  to  him,  and  unable  to  read  as  we  do  the  expression 
of  those  about  us.  The  frowns  of  the  Pharisees,  the  downcast 
timidity  of  his  parents,  the  eager  gaze  of  his  old  neighbors,  were 
a  strange  language  to  him. 

The  Pharisees  questioned  and  cross-questioned  the  poor  beggar, 
but  he  was  a  man  of  shrewd  common  sense,  and  of  great  courage, 
perhaps  the  courage  of  ignorance.  He  maintained  firmly,  that  one 
thing  he  did  know,  whereas  he  was  blind,  now, he  could  see.  The 
blue  heavens  above,  the  splendor  of  the  temple,  the  smoke  rising  from 
the  altar,  all  those  things  of  which  he  had  heard  so  often,  he  could 
now  see.  At  length,  after  being  badgered  into  what  seemed  an 
outbreak  of  insolence  from  so  mean  a  person,  he  cried,  "Why,  herein 
is  a  marvelous  thing,  that  ye  know  not  from  whence  he  is,  and  yet 
he  hath  opened  mine  eyes.  Now  we  know  that  God  heareth  not 
sinners :  but  if  any  man  be  a  worshipper  of  God,  and  doeth  his  will, 
him  he  heareth.  Since  the  world  began  was  it  not  heard  that  any 
man  opened  the  eyes  of  one  that  was  born  blind.  If  this  man  were 
not  of  God,  he  could  do  nothing."  Not  long  before  the  Pharisees 
had  said  to  Jesus,  "  Thou  art  a  Samaritan,  and  hast  a  devil !  "  These 
last  words  of  the  beggar  so  exasperated  them  that  they  immediately 
pronounced  against  him  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  w^hich, 
besides  depriving  him  of  his  right  as  a  Jew,  would  make  him  an  alien 


126  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

and  outcast  in  his  father's  house,  among  those  kinsmen  whose  faces 
he  had  never  yet  beheld,  but  who  would  now  turn  away  from  him 
with  shame  and  terror.  Better  for  him  if  he  had  been  left  a  blind 
beggar  sitting  at  the  gate  of  the  temple. 

But  Jesus,  who  had  bestowed  upon  him  this  blessing,  now  turned 
by  the  bigotry  of  the  Pharisees  into  a  curse,  no  sooner  heard  that  he 
had  been  cast  out  of  his  synagogue,  than  he  sought  for  him  in  his 
loneliness  and  misery.  The  blind  man  had  boldly  maintained  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  a  prophet  come  from  God,  in  the  face  of  those 
who  were  striving  to  put  him  to  death.  So  when  Jesus  found  him, 
stripped  of  love  and  religious  rights,  without  father  or  mother  in  the 
world,  and  shut  out  from  the  temple  and  its  sacrifices  for  sin,  he 
revealed  himself  to  the  wretched  man  as  being  not  a  prophet  merely, 
but  the  Son  of  God,  that  God  from  whom  the  sentence  of  excommuni- 
cation seemed  to  cut  him  off  There  was  no  need  of  the  temple  and 
the  sacrifices  for  him,  if  he  would  but  believe  in  the  Son  of  God,  who 
was  greater  than  the  temple.  "  Lord,  I  believe  !  "  cried  the  man,  as  he 
worshipped  him  who  had  opened  his  eyes.  And  now,  probably,  as  he 
was  cast  out  of  all  other  fellowship,  he  would  be  admitted  into  the 
circle  of  the  disciples,  who  were  willing  to  brave  any  penalties 
threatened  by  the  Pharisees,  and  who  already  formed  a  little  society  of 
their  own. 

From  among  the  disciples  who  had  been  with  him  at  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles,  Jesus  had  chosen  seventy,  and  sent  them  by  two  and  two 
on  a  similar  missionary  tour  to  that  short  journey  of  the  twelve 
apostles,  which  had  been  made  in  Galilee  in  the  spring.  The 
^Jewish  tradition  was  that  God  had  ordained  seventy  nations  to  inhabit 
the  earth,  and  Jesus  may  have  chosen  this  number  to  indicate  that  his 
mission  was  not  to  the  Jews  only,  but  to  all  the  world.  The  seventy 
were  directed  to  visit  certain  villages,  whither  Christ  intended  to  go 
himself,  chiefly  in  Judaea,  where  he  appears  to  have  remained  until 
about  the  middle  of  December. 

Judaea  had  little  of  the  beauty  which  made  Galilee  so  dear  to  Jesus: 
and  it  possessed  none  of  those  early  associations,  which  make  all  men 
ding  to  the  place  of  their  early  childhood.     The  hills  of  Judaea  are 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  127 

bleak  and  bare;  the  season  was  that  of  the  sad  and  waning  autumn, 
when  the  drought  of  summer  was  not  repaired  by  the  winter's  rains. 
The  people,  though  more  poHshed,  were  less  trustworthy  and  less 
independent  than  the  Galileans.  Society  was  more  corrupt  and 
artificial ;  and  Jesus  mournfully  likened  the  religious  leaders  to 
whited  sepulchres,  full  of  dead  men's  bones,  and  declared  that  they 
made  their  proselytes  tenfold  more  the  children  of  hell  than 
themselves.  The  political  condition  of  the  country  was  even  worse 
than  in  Galilee,  where  there  was  at  least  a  Jewish  tetrarch.  Judaea 
was  under  a  Roman  ruler,  and  its  fortresses  were  filled  with  Roman 
soldiers.  Riots  against  Pontius  Pilate  were  frequent.  Robbers 
infested  the  roads ;  and  even  between  Jerusalem  and  Jericho,  a 
highway  between  two  chief  cities,  it  was  no  uncommon  occurrence  to 
fall  among  thieves. 

How  Jesus  avoided  the  snare  of  his  enemies  during  these  two 
months  we  are  not  told.  But  we  must  recollect  they  had  no  legal 
power  to  put  him  to  death;  they  had  failed  in  crushing  him  by  a 
sudden  outbreak  in  the  temple;  and  the  number  and  faithfulness  of 
his  followers  preserved  him  from  secret  assassination.  He  passed 
from  village  to  village,  always  dogged  by  the  Pharisees,  who  hoped  to 
catch  something  out  of  his  mouth,  that  they  might  accuse  him  to 
Pilate,  who,  thoug^h  he  did  not  trouble  himself  to  interfere  with  a 
Jewish  prophet,  would  speedily  put  an  end  to  any  political  agitator. 
There  was  constantly  some  danger  of  Jesus  appearing  to  him  in  this 
character,  from  the  innumerable  multitudes  which  gathered  about  him 
wherever  he  appeared ;  always  a  perilous  sign  when  a  country  is  ripe, 
as  Judaea  was,  for  rebellion. 

It  was  during  this  time  that  Jesus  probably  made  that  visit  to 
Bethany,  when  Martha  is  first  mentioned  as  receiving  him  into  her 
house,  and  being  so  much  cumbered  about  much  serving  as  to  speak 
somewhat  sharplv  <"o  him,  though  he  was  both  her  Lord  and  her  guest. 
"  Lord,  dost  thou  not  care  that  my  sister  hath  left  me  to  serve  alone?" 
she  asked.  "  Bid  her  therefore  that  she  help  me."  No  doubt  he  had 
seen  all  this  house-pride  and  hospitable  impatience  before,  when  his 
cousins  in  Nazareth  had  made  feasts  for  their  friends ;  and  we  can 


i2,S  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

fancy  him  smiling  at  the  hurried  and  weary  woman.  "Martha, 
Martha,"  he  answered,  gently,  "  thou  art  careful  and  troubled  about 
many  things ;  but  one  thing  is  needful :  and  Mary  hath  chosen  that 
better  part,  which  shall  not  be  taken  away  from  her." 

Once  again,  during  these  two  months,  the  old  blasphemy  revived, 
that  he  was  casting  out  devils  by  the  prince  of  devils.  The  old 
accusation  of  breaking  the  Sabbath  was  also  renewed.  He  was  in 
some  village  synagogue,  where  he  saw  a  poor  woman  bowed  together 
so  that  she  could  not  lift  up  herself  He  did  not  wait  for  her  to  ask 
^or  help,  but  called  her  to  him,  and  laid  his  hands  upon  her,  and 


ANIMALS  USED  FOR   SACRIFICE. 


immediately  she  was  made  straight.  The  ruler  of  the  synagogue  was 
very  indignant,  and  addressing  the  people  forbade  them  to  come  tct 
be  healed  on  the  Sabbath  day.  "  Hypocrite !  "  cried  the  Lord  ;  "  doth 
not  each  of  you  on  the  Sabbath  loose  his  ox  or  his  ass  from  the  stall, 
and  lead  him  away  to  watering  ?  And  ought  not  this  woman,  being 
a  daughter  of  Abraham,  whom  Satan  hath  bound,  lo,  these  eighteen 
years,  be  loosed  from  this  bond  on  the  Sabbath  day  ?  "  For  once  all 
his  adversaries  were  ashamed ;  and  all  the  people  rejoiced  for  the 
glorious  things  that  he  had  done. 

The  winter  was  now  come,  and  with  it  the  feast  of  the  Dedication 


:# 


CHRIST  RAISING  LAZARUS. 

"Lazarus,  Come  Forth."— John  ii  :  43. 


CHRIST  ENTERING  JERUSALEM. 
'HosANNA,  Blessed  is  He  that  Comeih  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord." — Mark  11:9. 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


131 


of  the  Temple.  This  feast,  Hke  that  of  Purim,  was  not  one  appointed 
by  the  law  of  Moses,  and  therefore  it  was  not  generally  kept  by  the 
Galileans,  or  the  Jews  living  far  from  Jerusalem.  It  was  celebrated  in 
honor  of  the  reconsecration  of  the  temple  after  a  terrible  and  shameful 
pollution  of  it  a  hundred  and  sixty-six 
years  before  Christ.  Comparatively  a 
modern  festival,  it  was  however  a  time 
'of  great  mirth  and  gladness ;  and  it 
was  called  the  Feast  of  Lights,  from 
the  custom  of  illuminating  the  city 
during  its  celetjration.  Once  more 
Jesus  resolved  to  show  himself  openly 
amidst  his  deadliest  foes.  There  was 
a  colonnade  running  round  the  court  of 
the  Gentiles,  called  Solomon's  porch, 
which  afforded  shelter  from  the  cold 
winds  of  winter.  Here  he  chose  to 
walk  to  and  fro,  teachinq-,  as  was  his 
custom,  those  who  crowded  about  him 
to  learn.  The  Pharisees  surrounded  him 
in  this  place,  asking  him  to  say  plainly 
if  he  were  the  Christ,  or  Messiah, 
probably  with  the  hope  that  he  would 
claim  this  kingly  title,  and  so  lay 
himself  open  to  an  accusation  before 
Pilate.  The  Lord's  reply  afforded 
them  no  such  ground,  but  he  uttered 
-words  which  excited  their  fiercest 
anger.  Again  they  took  up  stones  to 
stone  him  ;  but  he  escaped  out  of  their 
hands,  and  left  Jerusalem  to  enter  it 
but  once  more. 

Jesus  now  withdrew  altogether  from  Judasa,  into  the  place  beyond 
Jordan,  where  John  had  at  first  baptized.  It  was  in  the  same  valley, 
beside  the  same  river,  where  he  had  spent  the  first  summer  of  his 


THE   LOST  SHEET 


132  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

public  life,  whilst  John  was  still  alive,  and  teaching  and  baptizing  not 
far  from  him.  Only  twelve  months  had  passed  since  he  had  left  that 
quiet  retreat,  to  enter  upon  a  career  full  of  change,  of  wanderings,  of 
increasing  difficulties  and  dangers.  His  enemies  had  laid  wait  for 
him ;  had  never  wearied  of  hunting  him  from  place  to  place ;  had  three 
times  attempted  his  life  at  the  feasts.  His  own  kinsmen  did  not  fully 
believe  in  him  ;  his  numerous  friends  were  bewildered  and  dissatisfied; 
and  his  disciples,  though  still  faithful  to  him,  were  disappointed,  and 
looked  anxiously  into  the  future.  It  was  wintry  weather;  the  sky  was 
heavy  with  clouds,  and  storms  swept  across  the  land  The  summer 
seemed  also  to  have  faded  out  of  his  life ;  all  that  gladness  with  which 
his  God  had  crowned  him  above  his  fellows.  Poor,  homeless,  and  an 
exile ;  rich  only  in  the  friendship  of  a  few  fishermen  and  peasants  who 
made  themselves  homeless  and  exiles  for  his  sake ;  with  a  traitor 
always  at  his  side,  and  a  host  of  deadly  foes  conspiring  against  him 
thus  Jesus  passed  the  last  winter  of  his  life 

Whilst  he  was  in  Perea  many  people  came  to  him,  who  remembered 
what  John  the  Baptist  had  said  of  him  John  had  not  yet  been  dead 
twelve  months,  and  the  anger  of  the  people  against  Herod  had  not 
died  away  Many  of  them  believed  on  Jesus,  as  he  went  about, 
according  to  his  custom,  from  village  to  village,  teaching,  in  homely 
parables,  which  took  firm  hold  of  the  minds  and  memories  of  his 
hearers.  Very  possibly  the  Pharisees  sought  to  get  Herod  to  arrest 
him ;  but  this  he  dared  not  do,  so  unpopular  had  he  become  by  the 
murder  of  John.  They  tried,  therefore,  to  frighten  Jesus  back  into 
Judaea,  and  they  came  to  him  with  a  warning "  "  Get  thee  out,  and 
depart  hence,"  they  said,  "for  Herod  will  kill  thee."  But  Jesus  had 
certain  work  to  do  in  that  country,  and  he  was  not  to  be  driven  from 
it  by  their  cunning  or  Herod's.  One  of  the  miracles  he  wrought  at 
this  time  in  Perea  was  in  the  house  of  one  of  the  chief  Pharisees  of 
that  neighborhood,  where  he  had  been  invited,  that  they  might  watch 
him.  It  was  the  Sabbath  day,  and  a  man  \\as  set  before  him  afflicted 
with  dropsy  As  usual,  Jesus  did  not  hesitate  to  heal  him,  the 
lawyers  and  Pharisees  finding  nothing  to  say  against  his  doing  so, 
After  this  he  gave  both  to  the  guests  and  to  his  host  certain  rules 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE.  133 

concerning  feasts,  which  were  very  different  from  those  usually 
observed.  To  this  period  also  belong  the  parables  of  the  Great 
Supper,  the  Lost  Sheep,  the  Lost  Coin,  the  Prodigal  Son,  the  Uniust 
Steward,  and  the  Rich  Man  and  Lazarus. 


CHAPTER  XV.— LAZARUS. 

jti  §^        AZARUS,  that  name  which  Jesus  had  given  to 

the  poor   beggar  carried  by  the   angels    into 

Abraham's  bosom,  was   also   the    name   of  a 

friend  whom  he  loved  dearly,  and  of  whom  his 

mind   was  at   this    moment  full.     About   the 

same    time    that   the    Pharisees  had  come   to 

A>  s?       him  with  their  cunning  stratagem  to  drive  him 

^     into  Judaea,  there  had  reached  him  a  message 

'"W      from  the  home  in  Bethany:   "Lord,  behold,  he 

■    .  ,  whom  thou  lovest  is  sick."     Martha  and  Mary, 

^''  the  sisters  of  Lazarus,  did  not,  because  they  could 

not,  urge  their  Lord  to  come  to  them.     The  peril  was  great.     Nay, 

if  he  had  gone  at   once  he  would   have  fallen  into  the  very  snare 

his  enemies  had  laid  for  him.     He  stayed,  therefore,  two  days  where 

he  was,  teaching  the  people  as  usual,  and  betraying  no  design  of 

leaving  that  place.     But  on    the  third  day,  when  the    danger  was 

somewhat  passed  by,  though  his  disciples  still  remonstrated  with  him 

for  venturing  again  to  Judaea,  he  set  out  for  Bethany.     Thomas,  the 

most  timid  and  doubtful  of  the  disciples,  said  to  his  companions,  in 

a  despair  which  proves  the  strength  of  his  attachment  to  his  Master, 

"  Let  us  also  go,  that  we  may  die  with  him." 

It  was  a  toilsome  journey,  hurriedly  and  secretly  taken.  The 
disciples,  like  other  men  in  a  country  of  foes,  must  have  been 
anxious  and  uneasy,  not  altogether  seeing  the  necessity  of  this 
new  peril.     The  Lord  himself  was  probably  troubled  and  sorrowful, 


134  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

for  he  knew  that  Lazarus  was  dead,  and  he  sympathized  with  the  griet 
of  his  sisters.  On  the  fourth  day  after  his  death  he  reached  the 
village,  but  did  not  enter  it,  only  sending  a  message  to  the  sisters 
that  he  had  come.  The  house  was  filled  with  Jews  from  Jerusalem, 
which  was  only  two  miles  away,  and  Martha,  as  soon  as  she  heard 
that  Jesus  was  near,  rose  up,  and  went  out  to  meet  him,  lest  he 
should  be  unaware  of  the  risk  he  was  running.  But  Mary  was  too 
deeply  sunk  in  sorrow  even  to  hear  that  he  who  loved  them  was  so 
close  at  hand.  It  was  not  until  he  sent  Martha  to  her,  who  told  her 
secretly,  "  The  Master  is  come,  and  calleth  for  thee,"  that  she  knew 
he  was  there. 

Mary  did  not  possess  Martha's  characteristic  caution  and  prudence. 
She  rose  up  quickly,  and  hurried  to  seek  Jesus  outside  the  town 
where  he  was  staying,  without  attempting  to  conceal  her  movements. 
A  number  of  the  Jews  followed  her,  thinking  she  was  going  to  her 
brother's  grave  to  weep  there.  The  whole  company,  weeping  and 
mourning,  came  to  the  place  where  Jesus  was  waiting  for  Mary, 
in  the  midst  of  his  anxious  disciples.  But  the  grief  of  the  two 
sisters,  and  his  own  tears,  saved  him  at  this  moment.  They  even 
wept  with  them,  and  exclaimed,  "  Behold,  how  he  loved  him  I  "  In  a 
sacred  brotherhood  of  grief  they  led  him  to  the  cave  where  his  friend 
had  been  lying  for  four  days. 

Some  of  them,  who  had  known  of  the  miracle  performed  on  the  blind 
beggar,  asked  among  themselves  if  he  could  not  have  saved  Lazarus 
from  dying.  But  it  was  too  late  now.  Here  was  the  grave,  with 
the  stone  laid  upon  it,  beneath  which  the  dead  body  had  been  decaying 
these  four  days.  Even  Martha  objected  to  having  the  stone  taken 
away.  It  may  be  that  some  among  them  had  heard  how  the  widow's 
son,  at  Nain,  had  appeared  to  come  to  life  again  when  he  was  about 
to  be  buried ;  but  how  different  that  was  to  the  case  of  a  man  so 
well  known,  who  had  been  dead  so  long  1  Close  by  Jerusalem,  too, 
where  the  rulers  were  seeking  to  put  Jesus  to  death  as  an  impostor! 

But  the  stone  was  taken  away,  and  all  stood  silent,  looking  on  with 
awe.  Did  Jesus  wish  to  see  once  again  the  form  of  his  friend,  now 
conquered  by  the  last  enemy,  Death  ?     He  did  not  enter  into  the  cave, 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE  13, 

but  crying  with  a  loud  voice,  which  rang  through  the  silence  of  the 
crowd  and  the  stillness  of  the  grave,  he  said,  "  Lazarus,  come  forth  I " 

How  every  heart  must  have  throbbed  I  Was  it  possible  that  the 
dead  ear  could  catch  the  sound,  and  the  dead  form  move  ?  Did  they 
press  round  the  cave,  or  shrink  away  in  fear  ?  We  cannot  tell ;  but 
the  moment  of  suspense  was  short.  They  could  hear  a  stir  and 
mov^ement  within  the  sepulchre ;  and  Lazarus,  bound  hand  and  foot 
with  grave-clothes,  and  his  face  hidden  from  them  by  a  napkin, 
appeared  in  the  doorway  on  which  all  eyes  were  fastened.  The 
deathly  pallor  of  his  face  had  vanished,  and  his  eyes  were  bright  again 
with  life,  before  they  could  take  away  the  cloth  that  hid  it;  and  the 
limbs  that  had  been  bound  in  grave-clothes  for  four  days  were  strong 
enough  to  carry  him  home  to  his  house,  across  whose  door-sill  they 
had  borne  him  in  the  stillness  and  helplessness  of  death. 

Many  of  the  people  from  Jerusalem  who  saw  this  miracle  believed 
in  Jesus.  We  may  confidently  suppose  that  for  this  night  at  least  hf 
was  secure  from  all  attempts  to  arrest  him ;  and  that  he  could  safel) 
stay  with  the  friends  he  had  so  marvelously  blessed.  But  some  of 
the  bystanders  went  their  way  at  once  to  the  Pharisees  to  tell  therr^ 
what  had  been  done.  The  time  was  at  last  come  when  the  chief 
priests  began  to  take  a  more  active  interest  in  crushing  this  propheJ 
from  Nazareth.  They  were  mostly  Sadducees  i  Caiaphas  the  high 
priest,  and  Annas,  his  father-in-law,  a  most  powerful  man,  being  at  the 
head  of  the  Sadducees.  Hitherto  they  had  regarded  Jesus  with 
contempt,  as  one  beneath  their  notice.  But  one  of  their  leading 
tenets  was  the  denial  of  the  resurrection ;  and  this  strange  story  from 
Bethany  could  not  but  be  exceedingly  repulsive  and  alarming  to  them 
They  took  counsel  together  with  the  Pharisees  to  put  him  to  death , 
and  as  they,  the  aristocracy  of  the  temple,  had  much  more  politicas 
power  than  the  middle-class  Pharisees,  their,  antagonism  greatly 
increased  the  peril  of  Jesus.  Caiaphas,  the  high-priest,  was  exceed- 
ingly emphatic  upon  the  necessity  of  destroying  him,  saying  sharply 
to  the  council,  "Ye  know  nothing  at  all,  nor  consider  that  it  is 
expedient  for  us,  that  one  man  should  die  for  the  people,  and  that  the 
whole  nation  perish  not" 


136  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

Jesus  had  two  friends  among  these  counsellors  thus  plotting  his 
death,  Nicodemus  and  Joseph  of  Arimathea ;  and  possibly  they  gave 
him  instant  warning  of  his  increasing  danger,  for  he  left  Bethany 
immediately,  and  that  home  which  he  had  made  so  happy,  to  withdraw 
to  Ephraim,  a  town  on  the  borders  of  Samaria,  where  at  any  hour  he 
could  cross  the  frontier  and  place  himself  beyond  the  reach  of  both 
Sadducees  and  Pharisees.  He  stayed  there  not  many  weeks,  and  then 
began  his  last  farewell  circuit  through  Samaria  and  Galilee,  as  it 
would  seem  rather  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  these  places  once  more, 
than  of  teaching  or  healing.  It  was  now  the  early  spring,  and  the 
corn-fields  of  Samaria  and  Galilee  would  be  already  springing  into 
life  under  the  ripening  sun ;  half-opened  leaf-buds  were  green  upon 
the  trees ;  and  the  grassy  turf  was  strewn  with  daisies,  and  lilies,  and 
anemones  of  all  colors.  Probably  he  crossed  the  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
over  which  he  had  so  often  gazed  from  the  hills  of  Nazareth.  But  we 
do  not  find  that  he  ventured  into  any  of  the  familiar  villages ;  but 
rather,  like  one  hunted  as  a  partridge  upon  the  mountains,  the 
wandering  Son  of  man  turned  aside  out  of  Galilee,  and  descending 
into  the  deep  valley  of  the  Jordan,  waited  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
river  for  his  hour  to  come ;  that  hour  which  was  very  soon  to  strike. 

But  even  here  he  was  not  left  alone  in  peace  with  his  disciples. 
The  spies,  with  whom  he  was  always  surrounded,  came  to  him  as 
usual  with  perplexing  and  difficult  questions.  "  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man 
to  put  away  his  wife  for  every  cause?"  they  asked.  Herod,  as  we 
know,  had  put  away  his  wife  to  marry  Herodias,  much  to  the 
displeasure  of  his  people,  who  regarded  it  as  a  scandalous  act.  This 
question  of  divorce  was  one  angrily  disputed  among  the  people,  and 
especially  among  the  Pharisees.  It  could  scarcely  be  answered 
without  giving  deep  offence  to  large  numbers  of  persons.  For 
once  Jesus  took  the  side  of  the  bitter  and  bigoted  Pharisees  of 
the  school  of  Shammai ;  and  by  so  doing  gave  occasion  to  his  own 
disciples  to  venture  upon  a  remonstrance  to  him,  saying  the  case  of 
the  man  was  hard.  But  the  women,  who  were  the  real  sufferers 
under  the  law,  were  greatly  pleased ;  and  immediately  upon  his 
answer,  so  wise  and  just,  becoming  known,  they  brought  to  him  their 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


m 


little  children,  both  girls  and  boys,  that  he  might  pray  for  them.     The 

disciples  somewhat  bitterly  rebuked  their  enthusiasm,  and  would  have 

sent  them  away,  had  not  Jesus  interfered,  being  much  displeased.     He 

had  come  to  raise  woman  to  her  proper  position,  and  to  make  little 

children  the  care  of  all  who  would  enter  the  kingdom  of  God.     He 

ordered  them,  therefore,  to  be  brought  to  him,  and  having  laid  his 

hands    upon    their 

heads,  and  blessed 

them,    he    left    the 

place ;  probably  lest 

the    enthusiasm   of 

the  women  should 

create    too  great  a 

commotion. 

Not  long  afterthis 
there  came  to  him  a 
rich  young  man,  a 
ruler  of  asynagogue, 
who  had  kept  the 
law  from  his  youth 
up,  and  wanted 
some  good  thing 
yet  to  do.  Quickly, 
Jesus  put  him  to 
the  test.  "  If  thou 
wilt  be  perfect,"  he 
answered,  "go  and 
sell  all  that  thou 
hast,  and  give  to  the 

poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven ;  and  come,  follow  me." 
He  was  exceedingly  grieved  at  this  reply,  and  went  away  sorrowful 
Jesus,  who,  when  he  saw  him,  loved  him,  exclaimed  mournfully,  "  How 
hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  I " 
Upon  that,  Peter  began  to  contrast  himself  and  his  fellow-disciples 
with  this  rich  ruler,  saying,  "Lo,  we  have  left  all  to  follow  thee!"     It 


CHRIST  BLESSING  LITTLE  CHILDREN. 


138 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


was  true;  and  Jesus  must  have  felt  deeply  the  faithfulness  of  his 
simple-minded  followers.  He  promised  them  that  they  should 
receive  the  reward  the  young  ruler  had  been  seeking  to  obtain,  even 
eternal  life.  But,  as  though  he  must  check  the  vain  hopes  always  at 
work  in  their  hearts,  he  told  them  many  that  were  first  should  be 
last,  and  the  last  first. 


CHAPTER   XVI.— THE  LAST  SABBATH. 

INGERING  on  the  eastern  banks  of  Jordan  till 
a  few  days  before  the  passover,  Jesus  was 
there  no  doubt  joined  by  his  mother,  his  kins- 
men, and  the  women  from  Galilee,  who  had  so 
often  ministered  to  him,  as  they  went  up  to 
Jerusalem  for  the  feast.  Numbers  of  pilgrims 
had  already  gone  up  before  the  feast-day  to 
purify  themselves ;  and  both  the  chief  priests 
and  Pharisees  had  given  commandment  that 
if  any  man  knew  where  he  was,  he  should  tell 
it.  They  wished  to  take  him  quietly,  before  the 
great  masses  of  the  people  were  gathered  together  in  the  Holy  City; 
but  they  began  to  fear  that  he  would  stay  away,  as  he  had  done  the 
year  before.  They  asked  one  another  in  the  temple,  "What  think 
ye,  that  he  will  not  come  to  the  feast  ? " 

Already  Jesus  was  on  his  way,  and  was  pressing  onward,  his  face 
set  toward  Jerusalem.  He  went  before  his  bewildered  and  troubled 
disciples,  as  though  eager  to  get  to  his  journey's  end.  The  disciples 
were  often  depressed  by  his  incomprehensible  warnings,  but  still 
oftener  they  seem  to  have  been  dazzled  by  visions  of  some  approach- 
ing splendor.  Among  the  women  who  had  joined  them  from  Galilee 
was  Salome,  the  mother  of  James  and  John.  She  came  to  beg  a 
boon  from  him — that  her  sons  might  sit  on  his  right  hand  and  on 
his  left  in  his  kingdom. 


Though  the  rest  were  much  displeased  with 


CHRIST  IN  THE  TEMPLE. 

"This  Poor  Widow  hath  Cast  in  More  than  they  All." 


-Luke  21  !  3. 


"HE  THAT  IS  WITHOUT  SIN  AMONG  YOU,  LET  HIM  FIRST  CAST  A 
STONE  AT  HER-"-John  8:  7. 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  141 

James  and  John  because  of  this  petition,  they  had  frequently  dis- 
cussed among  themselves  which  should  be  the  greatest ;  and  possibly 
Judas,  who  kept  the  common  purse,  felt  himself  of  more  importance 
than  the  others,  and  at  least  certain  of  being  treasurer  in  the  coming 
kingdom.  Jesus  called  them  to  him,  and  after  telling  them  that  who- 
soever amonef  them  would  be  the  chiefest  must  be  the  servant  of  all, 
he  added  the  beautiful  saying,  "  For  even  the  Son  of  man  came  not  to 
be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for 
many." 

But  what  did  his  mother  think  of  this  kingdom  of  her  son's  ?  We 
do  not  know.  She  was  now  once  more  with  him,  treading  the  familiar, 
yearly  pilgrimage  which  they  had  taken  together  for  so  many  happy 
spring-tides.  Probably,  she  partook  more  fully  of  the  mood  and  spirit 
of  Christ  than  his  other  friends  ;  and  though  now  and  then  there  might 
be  a  flutter  of  timid  hope  in  her  mother's  heart,  his  grave,  sad  face, 
and  solemn  warnings,  must  have  prepared  her  for  the  darkness,  not 
the  splendor,  of  the  coming  hour. 

The  city  of  Jericho  was  a  few  miles  from  the  Jordan,  on  the  way  to 
Jerusalem,  standing  in  a  magnificent  grove  of  palm-trees,  and  amid 
gardens  of  balsam.  Jesus  was  passing  through  the  city,  surrounded 
by  a  multitude  of  followers  and  curious  spectators,  when  the  chief  of 
the  tax-gatherers,  a  rich  man,  who  was  desirous  to  see  him,  ran  before, 
and  climbed  into  a  tree ;  for  he  was  little  of  stature,  and,  in  spite  of 
his  wealth,  possessed  no  favor  or  influence  with  his  fellow-countrymen, 
that  they  should  make  way  for  him  in  the  press.  Jesus,  coming  t..  me 
place,  looked  up,  and  called  him  by  name.  "  Zaccheus,  make  haste, 
and  come  down,"  he  said ;  "  for  to-day  I  must  abide  at  thy  house." 
Joyfully  he  descended  from  among  the  branches,  and  led  the  way  to 
his  dwelling-place.  But  at  this  all  who  saw  it  murmured.  The  man 
was  a  notorious  sinner,  one  who  had  enriched  himself  by  unfair  means, 
besides  engaging  in  an  infamous  trade.  But  Jesus  had  not  called  him 
without  knowing  his  nature,  and  what  influence  he  could  exercise  over 
him.  A  day  or  two  before,  when  the  rich  young  ruler  had  come  to 
ask  what  more  good  things  he  should  do,  having  kept  the  law  from  his 
youth  up,  Jesus  had  proposed  to  him  as  a  test  that  he  should  sell  alJ 


142  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

that  he  had,  and  give  to  the  poor.  We  know  how  he  shrank  from 
giving  up  his  riches.  This  very  test  Zaccheus  adopted  of  his  own 
choice.  He  stood  up  in  the  midst  of  his  accusing  fellow-citizens,  and 
said,  "Behold,  Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor;  and  if 
I  have  taken  anything  from  any  man  by  false  accusation,  I  restore  him 
fourfold."  If  the  cheating  of  Zaccheus  in  his  tax-gathering  had  been 
on  any  large  scale,  this  restitution  would  leave  him  a  poor  man  indeed, 
Jesus,  knowing  how  hard  it  was  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  said  to  him,  "  This  day  is  salvation  come  to  this  house, 
forasmuch  as  he  also  is  a  son  of  Abraham;"  and  he  finished  by 
perhaps  his  most  beautiful  and  characteristic  saying,  "  For  the  Son  of 
man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost." 

Probably  Jesus  stayed  that  night  in  the  house  of  Zaccheus,  and  set 
out  the  next  morning  for  Bethany.  A  numerous  body  of  friends  and 
pilgrims  as  usual  gathered  around  him  to  accompany  him  up  the  steep 
and  rocky  road  which  led  to  the  mount  of  Olives,  under  the  brow  of 
which  stood  the  little  village  where  Lazarus  lived.  The  day  before, 
as  he  entered  into  Jericho,  a  blind  man  had  heard  him  passing  by,  and 
asked  who  it  was  coming  thus  surrounded  by  a  crowd.  Now  this  blind 
man,  with  a  comrade  in  the  same  plight,  sat  by  the  wayside,  waiting 
for  his  approach.  No  sooner  did  they  hear  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was 
nigh,  than  they  began  to  cry  out  to  him,  a  shrill,  piercing  cry,  which 
reached  his  ear,  even  amid  the  babble  of  the  crowd.  It  was  a  strange 
crj'  in  Judaea.  "Jesus,  thou  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  us  I  "  "  Son 
of  David  I  "  All  who  heard  it  knew  what  it  meant ;  and  many  among 
them  must  have  been  offended.  They  rebuked  the  blind  men,  and 
charged  them  to  hold  their  peace.  One  of  them  was  a  well-known 
beggar,  blind  Bartimeus ;  but  he  was  the  loudest  in  his  petition,  cry- 
ing out  a  great  deal  the  more  in  spite  of  their  displeasure,  "  Son  of 
David,  have  mercy  on  me ! "  Jesus  stood  still,  and  called  the  blind 
men  to  him,  having  compassion  on  them ;  and  they,  receiving  their 
sight,  followed  him  up  the  steep  ascent  to  Bethany,  glorifying  God, 

It  was  probably  Friday  when  Jesus  entered  Bethany ;  and  one  quiet 
Sabbath  day  he  spent  there  with  his  friends,  Lazarus  and  his  sisters.  No 
doubt  they  had  been  forewarned  of  his  arrival,  and  Martha,  as  once 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  .  143 

before,  had  been  cumbered  with  household  cares  in  his  honor.  For  they 
made  him  a  feast,  in  the  house  of  Simon,  a  leper  who  had  been  restored  to 
health  by  the  Lord ;  and  Martha  served  at  this  supper.  It  was  only  a 
few  weeks  since  Lazarus  had  been  called  back  from  the  grave ;  and  this 
was  the  first  opportunity  they  had  had  of  giving  him  public  honor  and 
thanksgiving.  The  Sabbath  was  always  a  day  of  feasting  and  rejoicing 
among  the  Jews ;  and  no  doubt  a  large  company  was  invited  on  this 
occasion — so  large,  perhaps,  that  Simon "s  house  was  chosen  as  being 
more  commodious  than  their  own.  It  is  specially  noticed  that  Lazarus 
sat  at  the  table  with  Jesus ;  and  that  much  people  of  the  Jews  knew  that 
the  Lord  was  there,  and  came  out  to  see  not  him  only,  but  Lazarus, 
whom  he  had  raised  from  the  dead. 

Mary,  wishful  to  show  her  love  and  devotion  as  well  as  Martha,  who 
was  waiting  upon  their  Master,  and  counting  nothing  too  costly  to  be 
spent  for  such  a  purpose,  brought  an  alabaster  box  of  very  precious 
ointment,  and  breaking  the  box,  anointed  both  his  head  and  his  feet 
with  it,  caring  not  to  save  a  drop  of  the  rare  perfume  for  any  other  use. 
The  fragrance  of  it  filled  the  whole  house  where  they  were  assembled. 
Some  of  the  disciples,  specially  Judas  Iscariot,  felt  indignant  at  this 
extravagance.  For  they  were  poor  men,  unaccustomed  to  luxury,  and 
naturally  intolerant  of  expensive  whims,  such  as  this  act  of  Mary's 
seemed  to  them. 

"  Why  was  this  waste  of  ointment  made  ?  "  they  asked.  Judas  calcu- 
lated how  much  it  was  worth,  and  said  it  might  have  been  sold  for  three 
hundred  pence,  and  given  to  the  poor.  These  murmurs  troubled  Mary, 
who  had  thought  of  nothing  but  how  she  could  best  show  her  love  to 
the  Master.  "  Let  her  alone,"  said  Jesus ;  "  against  the  day  of  my 
burying  hath  she  kept  this.  For  the  poor  always  ye  have  with  you,  but 
me  ye  have  not  always."  They  were  mournful  words  for  Mary  to  hear. 
Was  she  indeed  anointing  her  Lord  beforehand,  as  if  already  death  had 
laid  its  hand  secretly  upon  him  ?  Was  it  for  this  she  had  saved  her 
precious  ointment  ?  She  had  kept  it  carefully  to  be  used  on  some  rare 
occasion,  and  now  that  she  had  poured  it  all  without  stint  upon  his 
head  and  feet,  he  said  it  was  for  his  burial !  But  to  take  away  if  possible 
the  sting  of  his  sad  words,  Jesus  said  tenderly, "  Wheresoever  the  gospel 


144 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


shall  be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  this  shall  be  told  as  a  memorial 
-ii  her." 

This  feast,  given  so  publicly  to  Jesus,  aroused  the  anger  of  the  chief 
priests  against  Lazarus.  The  miracle  had  been  so  manifest,  and  so 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  gainsay,  that  by  reason  of  him  many  of 
the  people  in  Jerusalem  believed  in  Jesus.  That  Lazarus  also  must  be 
put  to  death  was  the  decision  arrived  at  by  the  chief  priests ;  though 
the  Pharisees  do  not  seem  to  have  had  anything  to  do  with  this 
resolve.  He  was  too  well  known  at  Jerusalem  for  him  to  be  left  as  a 
witness  to  the  miraculous  powers  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 


EASTERN   HEAD-DRESS. 


BOOK   III. 

VICTIM   AND  VICTOR. 


CHAPTER  I.— THE  SON  OF  DAVID. 

HE  pilgrims  who  had  left  Jesus  at  Bethany,  and 
gone  on  to  Jerusalem,  carried  with  them  the  news 
of  his  arrival,  and  excited  considerable  interest  in 
the  city.  On  the  next  day  many  people,  hearing 
that  he  was  on  the  road  from  Bethany,  went  out 
to  meet  him,  and  as  they  passed  through  the  cool 
groves  and  gardens  of  Olivet,  they  plucked 
branches  of  palms  and  olives,  and  wove  them 
together  as  they  climbed  the  hill.  Soon  they  saw 
h'm  coming  round  the  brow  of  the  mountain, 
along  the  road  thronged  by  the  bands  of  pilgrims,  among  a  crowd  of 
them,  though  easily  discerned,  as  he  was  no  longer  on  foot,  but  riding 
on  the  colt  of  an  ass,  upon  which  the  disciples  had  cast  their  garments. 
At  the  sight  of  him  they  broke  into  a  shout,  which  might  readily  have 
been  heard  in  the  temple  courts.  They  shouted  "  Hosanna  1  "  and  the 
cry  was  taken  up  by  the  crowd  surrounding  Jesus,  and  echoed  far  in 
the  clear  atmosphere.  "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David !  Blessed  is 
the  King  of  Israel,  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  !  "  The  road 
was  quickly  strewn  with  mats  of  palm  branches,  and  with  the  garments 
of  the  excited  throng.  The  disciples,  hearing  the  shout  of  the  Messiah, 
the  battle-cry  of  the  nation,  must  have  felt  that  at  last  the  kingdom 
was  truly  nigh  at  hand,  and  that  their  Master  was  about  to  take  to 

9  US 


146  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

himself  his  throne  and  sceptre,  and  to  fulfil  his  promise  to  them  that 
they  should  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel. 

But  neither  joy  nor  triumph  was  seen  on  the  face  of  Jesus.  As  they 
wound  slowly  round  the  mount,  a  sudden  turn  of  the  road  brought 
them  in  sight  of  Jerusalem,  with  its  palaces  and  temple  in  all  their 
glory  of  marble  and  gold.  It  was  a  city  worthy  of  being  the  capital 
of  a  great  nation,  beautiful  for  situation,  the  perfection  of  beauty  in 
Jewish  eyes ;  but  when  he  beheld  it  thus  lying  before  him,  he  wept 
over  it.  He  foresaw  the  Roman  legions  casting  a  trench  about  it, 
besieging  it  straitly,  and  leaving  not  one  stone  upon  another,  and  the 
day  of  salvation  was  passed,  the  things  which  belonged  to  its  peace 
were  now  hidden.  His  mother,  and  those  nearest  him,  heard  the 
lamentation  he  uttered,  and  saw  his  tears  falling,  but  the  great  crowd 
swept  on,  shouting  and  singing,  down  into  the  valley,  and  up  again  to 
the  gate  of  Jerusalem. 

All  the  city  was  by  this  time  in  a  stir,  asking,  "  Who  is  this  ?  "  The 
Galileans,  proud  of  their  prophet,  were  the  most  eager  in  their  reply. 
"  This  is  Jesus,  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth  in  Galilee,"  they  answered,  as 
the  procession  threaded  the  narrow  streets,  and  thousands  of  people 
gazed  down  upon  it  from  the  house-tops,  whilst  the  question  ran  along 
from  house  to  house,  "  Who  is  this  that  cometh  ?  "  No  marvel  that 
shortly  afterwards  we  find  Greeks  going  to  Philip,  and  saying  to  him, 
"  Sir,  we  would  see  Jesus." 

Soon  the  temple  courts  were  flooded  by  the  crowd.  The  children, 
always  difficult  to  silence,  did  not  cease  to  shout  for  any  dread  of  the 
priests,  or  awe  of  the  sacred  place.  They  continued  to  cry,  "  Hosanna 
to  the  Son  of  David ! "  Some  of  the  Pharisees  had  asked  him  to 
rebuke  his  disciples  on  their  way  from  Bethany,  but  now  the  powerful 
chief  priests  and  scribes  of  the  temple  came  to  him  in  sore  displeasure, 
"  Hearest  thou  what  these  say  ?  "  they  asked.  "  Yea  "  answered  Christ, 
"  have  ye  never  read.  Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou 
hast  perfected  praise  ?  "  He  would  neither  forbid  them,  nor  refuse  to 
receive  the  title  of  Son  of  David,  that  cry  which  displeased  his  enemies 
so  greatly.     But  as  evening  was  near,  and  it  was  not  safe  for  him  to 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  147 

stay  in  the  city  during  the  night,  he  left  the  temple  and  returned  to 
Bethany. 

Probably,  to  avoid  a  repetition  of  these  exciting  occurrences,  Jesus 
returned  to  the  city  very  early  the  next  morning.  He  had  never 
omitted  any  opportunity  of  warning  his  disciples  against  hypocrisy ; 
and  this  day,  by  a  singular  and  symbolic  act,  he  impressed  his  lessons 
on  their  memory.  Being  hungry  on  the  way,  and  seeing  a  fig-tree  in 
leaf,  he  turned  aside  to  see  if  there  were  figs  upon  it ;  for  the  fruit  of 
this  tree  precedes  the  opening  of  the  leaf.  There  was  nothing  but 
leaves  only — a  fit  emblem  of  the  nation  which,  alone  among  all  nations, 
professed  the  service  of  the  one  true  God.  "  Let  no  fruit  grow  upon 
thee  from  henceforth  forever  I "  he  cried ;  and  the  next  time  they  passed 
by,  the  disciples  saw  the  fig-tree  withered  away. 

Upon  reaching  the  temple,  once  again  he  drove  out  the  merchants 
and  money-changers  from  the  outer  court.  He  had  done  this  the 
last  time  he  had  come  to  the  passover,  two  years  before,  saying, 
"  Make  not  my  Father's  house  a  house  of  merchandise."  Now,  in 
bolder  language,  he  told  them  that  they  were  making  it  a  den  of 
thieves.  By  the  time  the  court  was  cleared,  it  was  known  throughout 
the  city  that  Jesus  was  in  the  temple,  and  the  blind  and  the  lame  came 
to  him  to  be  healed  in  the  sight  of  those  deadly  foes  who  represented 
him  as  an  imposter.  It  was  'n  vain  they  sought  to  seize  him.  The 
multitudes  ever  about  him  ma.'ie  it  impossible  to  take  him  openly 
and  by  day.  The  chief  priests  were  as  much  baffled  as  the  less 
powerful  Pharisees,  for  an  uproar  in  the  temple  would  inevitably 
bring  down  the  Roman  garrison  dwelling  in  the  tower  of  Antonia 
close  by.  At  night  they  did  not  know  where  to  find  him ;  and  soon 
it  became  plain  that  they  must  seek  for  a  traitor  among  his  most 
trusted  followers. 

The  next  day  (Tuesday)  Jesus  again  appeared  very  early  in  the 
temple ;  the  people  also  hastened  thither,  eager  and  very  attentive  to 
hear  him.  He  began  to  teach  them,  but  he  was  soon  interrupted  by 
a  party  from  the  Great  Sanhedrim,  the  highest  legal  and  religious 
court  of  the  nation,  demanding  by  what  authority  he  did  such  things, 
and  who  gave  him  this  authority.    Jesus  replied,  "  I  will  also  ask 


148  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

you  a  question.  The  baptism  of  John,  was  it  from  heaven,  or  of 
men  ? "  It  was  their  special  province  to  decide  such  a  matter,  but 
they  dared  not  answer  according  to  their  judgment,  for  they  feared 
the  people,  who  held  John  as  a  prophet.  When  they  said,  "  We 
cannot  tell,"  Jesus  declined  to  answer  their  question  concerning  his 
authority.  But  in  their  hearing  he  uttered  the  terrible  parable  of  the 
wicked  husbandman,  and  the  parable  of  the  marriage  of  the  king's 
son.  They  knew  that  he  spoke  of  them,  and  their  enmity  grew,  if 
possible,  more  vehement.  But  they  stayed  to  listen  no  longer.  They 
could  not  cope  with  such  a  speaker:  his  wisdom  and  skill  in  weaving 
parables  turned  the  scale  against  them.  The  mass  of  the  people 
might  not  catch  the  deeper  meaning  of  his  words,  but  there  were 
many  there  who  could  not  fail  to  see  how  keenly  they  were  driven 
home  against  him. 

The  Pharisees,  upon  this  discomfiture  of  the  Sanhedrim,  took 
counsel  how  they  might  entangle  him  in  his  talk.  They  sent  some 
spies,  feigning  themselves  to  be  honest,  anxious-minded  men,  troubled 
with  a  scruple  of  conscience.  Ought  they  to  pay  tribute  to  the  Roman 
emperor  ?  Jesus,  who  cared  for  no  man,  but  taught  the  way  of  God 
truly,  should  decide  for  them.  It  was  a  clever,  cunning  question. 
Many  really  devout  Jews  were  not  easy  in  their  minds  about  this 
paying  of  taxes  to  a  foreign  power.  The  Galileans  especially,  among 
whom  were  his  supporters,  had  risen  again  and  again  in  rebellion  on 
this  very  point.  The  kinsmen  of  those  Galileans  who  had  perished 
in  these  insurrections  were  at  that  moment  among  his  hearers,  ready 
to  take  fire  at  any  judgment  adverse  to  their  martyred  friends.  The 
disciples  themselves  must  have  been  listening  eagerly  for  his  reply 
All,  except  Judas  Iscariot,  belonged  to  Galilee ;  and  one  of  them,  Simon 
the  Zealot,  appears  to  have  once  belonged  to  a  fierce  and  cruel  party, 
sworn  both  to  slay  and  to  die  in  defence  of  the  law.  Was  it  lawful 
to  pay  tribute  to  a  foreign  king? 

Jesus  himself  was  in  a  singular  position.  He  had  permitted  the 
Galileans  to  carry  him  in  triumph  into  Jerusalem,  amid  the  significant 
shouts  of  "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David  I "  He  had  spent  two  long 
days  openly  in  the  temple,  teaching  and  working  miracles  in  the  face 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE.  149 

of  his  powerful  enemies,  who  appeared  paralyzed  in  their  efforts  to 
check  or  arrest  him.  His  followers  could  not  fail  to  see  in  these  things 
that  at  last  he  claimed  the  Messiahship.  Had  he  then  resolved  to 
gird  his  sword  upon  his  thigh,  and  ride  forth  prosperously,  with  sharp 
arrows  in  the  hearts  of  his  adversaries  ?  Was  that  right  hand,  which 
had  been  laid  upon  so  many  sufferers  with  a  tender  touch,  about  to 
learn  terrible  things  ?  They  dared  not  yet  answer  "  Yes "  to  these 
questions,  but  they  longed  to  do  so.  Yet  the  escape  every  evening 
from  the  city  and  their  Master's  solemn  prophecies  answered  "  No." 
Now  he  was  asked,  in  the  presence  of  foes,  friends,  and  followers,  "  Is 
it  lawful  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar?" 

His  reply  disappointed  them  all,  and  served  to  diminish  his 
popularity,  though  not  to  any  dangerous  extent.  No  uproar  followed 
it.  He  bade  them  bring  to  him  the  tribute  money,  and  they  showed 
him  a  Roman  coin,  which  was  in  common  use  in  the  country;  a  sign 
of  their  subjection  to  a  foreign  power.  This  subjection  had  been 
permitted  by  their  king,  Jehovah,  who  was  still  ruling  them,  as  well 
as  all  the  nations  upon  earth.  If  they  had  been  more  careful  to 
render  iinto  God  the  things  that  were  God's,  they  might  not  now  have 
to  pay  tribute  to  Caesar.  It  had  become  their  duty  to  render  unto 
Caesar  the  things  that  belonged  to  Caesar. 

There  was  nothing  in  this  answer  which  could  be  made  a  ground 
of  complaint  to  Pilate,  The  Pharisees  and  Herodians  found  them- 
selves baffled.  But  now  the  courtly  and  polished  Sadducees  came 
forward,  seeking  to  put  into  an  absurd  light  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection,  one  of  the  points  upon  which  he  most  insisted.  Very 
likely  Lazarus  was  standing  near  Jesus,  the  object  of  much  interest 
and  curiosity.  The  Sadducees,  with  the  tact  of  men  of  the  world, 
knew  that  nothing  damages  a  cause  as  ridicule  does.  Jesus  answered 
them  solemnly,  unveiling  a  little  the  mystery  that  enshrouds  the 
state  of  the  dead.  They  can  die  no  more,  neither  marry.  But  they 
are  equal  to  the  angels,  and  are  the  children  of  God.  Then  referring 
them  to  their  own  scriptures,  and  their  lawgiver,  Moses,  whose 
authority  they  were  bound  to  receive,  he  pointed  out  that  when  God 
spoke  to  him  from   the  burning  bush,  he  said,  "I  am  the  God  of 


I50  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

Abraham."  "  He  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead,"  added  Jesus,  "but  of  the 
living:  for  all  live  unto  him."  The  multitude  were  astonished  at 
this  answer;  and  certain  of  the  scribes,  who  were  standing  by,  whose 
lives  had  been  spent  in  poring  over  the  sacred  books,  cried  out, 
"  Master,  thou  hast  well  said  !  " 

The  Pharisees  enjoyed  hearing  the  Sadducees  thus  silenced ;  and 
one  of  them,  a  scribe,  thought  this  a  good  opportunity  for  asking 
Jesus  a  question  vehemently  disputed  among  them:  which  was  the 
chief  commandment  ?  "  All  the  law  and  the  prophets  hang  on  two 
commandments,"  replied  Jesus,  "  and  these  two  are  alike."  '  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  with  all  thy  mind ;  and  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 
The  scribe  listened  to  this  answer  with  the  approval  of  an  honest 
man ;  and  the  Lord  said  to  him,  "  Thou  art  not  far  from  the  kingdom 
of  God." 

It  is  probable  that  it  was  on  this  day  that  a  party  of  Pharisees 
dragged  before  him  in  the  temple  a  miserable  woman,  detected  in 
adultery.  They  set  her  in  the  midst,  and  called  upon  him  to  pass 
judgment  on  her.  The  law  of  Moses  commanded  that  she  should  be 
stoned ;  but  this  law  had  fallen  into  complete  disuse,  and  to  revive  it 
would  shock  the  whole  nation.  Yet  if  he,  as  a  prophet,  set  himself 
against  Moses,  they  would  have  some  ground  for  accusing  him.  He 
seems  to  have  been  filled  with  shame  at  the  way  this  case  was  brought 
before  him ;  and  stooping  down,  he  wrote  with  his  finger  upon  the 
ground,  giving  no  answer  until  they  continued  asking  him.  Then, 
lifting  up  himself  for  a  moment,  he  said,  "  He  that  is  without  sin 
among  you,  let  him  first  cast  a  stone  at  her."  The  hardened 
consciences  of  these  men,  even  of  the  eldest,  convicted  them  so 
poignantly  of  sin,  that  they  stole  away  one  by  one,  leaving  the 
unhappy  woman  alone  with  him.  When  in  the  silence  he  lifted  up 
himself  a  second  time,  he  said  to  her,  "  Woman,  where  are  those  thine 
accusers  ?  Hath  no  man  condemned  thee  ?  "  "  No  man.  Lord,"  she 
answered.  "  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee,"  he  added,  "  go  and  sin  no 
more." 

This  was  the  last  effort  of  his  enemies  to  tempt  him;  and  they 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  151 

durst  ask  him  no  more  questions.  Jesus,  some  time  during  this  day, 
put  a  question  to  them,  which  must  have  made  his  followers'  hearts 
beat  high.  "  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ?  "  he  asked.  "  Whose  Son  is 
he.-*"  An  extraordinary  question !  He  knew  very  well  that  by  all, 
except  a  few,  he  was  looked  upon  as  the  Son  of  Joseph,  the  carpenter 
of  Nazareth.  His  question  drew  attention  to  one  of  the  most  striking 
flaws  in  his  own  claim  to  the  title  of  Messiah.  "  The  Son  of  David," 
answered  the  Pharisees  promptly.  Surely  Mary,  and  those  who  knew 
the  mystery  of  his  birth,  now  expect  him  to  proclaim  it.  Simeon  and 
Anna  were  dead ;  but  there  might  still  be  persons  about  the  temple, 
who  would  bear  testimony  to  their  prophecies  when  the  child  Jesus 
was  brought  to  be  presented  to  the  Lord.  But  no ;  this  was  not  the 
point  Jesus  had  in  view.  He  showed  the  scribes  how  David  in  the 
spirit  called  Christ  his  Lord,  and  intimated  that  there  was  some 
meaning  in  the  words  which  they  had  not  fathomed.  He  said  no 
more ;  and  they  could  not  answer  him ;  but  the  common  people  heard 
him  gladly. 

At  length,  moved  to  the  utmost  indignation  against  the  Pharisees, 
who,  as  the  most  religious  class,  ruled  over  and  deceived  the  nation, 
he  broke  out  into  a  vehement  and  unrestrained  rebuke  of  their 
hypocrisy  in  the  hearing  of  all  the  people.  It  was  in  the  temple 
itself;  and  the  day  was  far  spent.  Presently  he  was  about  to  quit  it, 
to  seek  shelter  and  safety  out  of  the  city,  and  he  was  never  again  to 
visit  his  Father's  house.  He  rebuked  them  passionately,  and  ended 
his  protest  by  lamenting  once  more  over  Jerusalem.  "  Behold,  your 
house  " — no  longer  calling  it  his  Father's  house — "  is  left  unto  you 
desolate !  For  I  say  unto  you,  ye  shall  not  see  me  henceforth,  till  ye 
shall  say,  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

And  now  Jesus  departed  from  the  temple,  never  more  to  tread  its 
courts.  As  he  went  out,  his  disciples,  who  were  all  amazed  at  hearing 
him  say  that  house  should  be  made  desolate,  pointed  out  to  him  the 
goodly  stones  and  gifts,  and  enormously  strong  masonry  of  the  walls. 
It  was,  in  fact,  a  fortress  all  but  impregnable ;  the  defence  of  the  city 
on  the  eastern  side,  where  it  stood  on  the  brow  of  a  precipitous  rock. 
The  stones  of  which  the  fortifications  v/ere  built  were  of  an  extra- 


152  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

ordinary  size.  "  Look,  Master,"  they  cried,  "  what  manner  of  stones, 
and  wliat  buildings  are  here  I"  "Seest  thou  these  great  buildings  ?" 
he  answered,  mournfully,  "There  shall  not  be  left  one  stone  upon 
anotlier  that  shall  not  be  cast  down." 


CHAPTER  II.— THE  TRAITOR. 

-v^^  UITTING  the  city,  Jesus  went  up  the  slope  of 
^  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  sat  down  there  over 
against  the  temple,  looking  across  upon  its 
marble  walls  and  golden  pinnacles.  It  was 
evening,  and  the  setting  sun  touched  it  with 
level  rays,  whilst  the  valley  beneath  lay  in  deep 
shadow  and  <doom.  It  seems  as  if  he  could  not 
^)  turn  away  from  it,  though  he  had  left  it  forever. 
It  was  now  a  den  of  thieves,  the  house  of 
hypocrisy,  not  his  Father's  house.  The  disciples  sat 
apart  from  him,  distressed  and  discouraged.  It  had  been  altogether 
an  agitating  day.  Their  Master  had  had  opportunities  again  and 
again  of  proclaiming  his  Messiahship,  and  had  neglected  or  avoided 
them.  His  last  vehement  denunciation  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees 
had  probably  given  as  much  offence  to  the  people  of  Judaea  as  his 
answer  about  the  tribute  money  had  done  to  the  Galileans.  He 
seemed  bent  upon  alienating  his  followers,  and  upon  thrusting  back 
the  greatness  offered  to  him. 

At  length  Peter  and  Andrew,  with  James  and  John,  came  to  hira 
privately  to  ask  when  these  things  that  he  had  spoken  of  should  come 
to  pass.  He  spoke  to  them  in  terms  so  clear  of  the  immediate  future 
that  they  could  no  longer  hope  to  see  him  ascend  an  earthly  throne, 
such  as  they  had  been  dreaming  of  He  foretold  sorrows  such  as  had 
not  been  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation.  But  he  distinctly  declared 
himself  to  be  that  Judge  and  King  before  whom  all  nations  should  be 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE.  153 

finally  gathered  for  judgment  and  for  separation.  As  he  finished  his 
long  and  sorrowful  discourse,  he  said  to  these  four  favorite  disciples, 
"  Ye  know  that  after  two  days  is  the  feast  of  the  passover,  and  the  Son 
of  man  is  betrayed  to  be  crucified." 

This  was  probably  the  first  word  they  had  heard  of  treachery,  and  it 
could  not  but  have  shocked  and  troubled  them  greatly.  Who  among 
his  friends,  those  who  were  trusted  with  the  secret  of  his  hiding-places, 
could  be  base  enough  to  turn  traitor  ?  It  was  a  terrible  thought.  A 
spy  was  among  them  who  was  about  to  betray  their  Lord,  Who  could 
it  be  ?  Hastily  they  would  run  over  the  list  of  his  nearest  and  most 
trusted  followers,  but  they  could  not  fix  upon  any  one.  Yet  from  that 
moment  there  was  no  rest  for  them  from  suspicion  and  dread  of  the 
unknown  betrayer,  from  whom  their  Master  could  not  be  secured. 

The  next  day,  Wednesday,  and  most  of  Thursday,  seems  to  have 
been  a  time  of  rest  and  peaceful  retirement  for  Jesiis.  Probably  he 
passed  the  hours  chiefly  with  his  disciples  and  his  mother,  in  quiet 
conversation,  or  in  silent  thought,  concerning  all  he  had  done  and 
taught,  and  all  they  were  to  do  when  he  was  gone  Somewhere  on  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  perhaps  in  the  house  of  Lazarus,  the  solemn  hours 
glided  by,  neither  wholly  sorrowful  nor  wholly  glad.  Their  Lord  wa? 
still  wdth  them,  and  it  was  hard  to  believe  that  days  of  mourning  were 
about  to  dawn.  They  could  not  see  the  coming  sorrow,  whilst  their 
eyes  still  caught  the  light  of  his  tender  smile.  They  could  not  hear 
the  murmur  of  the  gathering  storm,  whilst  they  were  listening  to  his 
gracious  words.  A  happy,  sorrowful,  solemn  time,  such  as  never  was 
so  spent  on  earth,  before  or  since.  His  loved  ones  were  around  him, 
those  whom  his  Father  had  given  to  him,  and  none  of  them  were  lost, 
-ave  one. 

That  lost  one  was  not  with  them  the  whole  of  the  day.  Judas,  the 
purse-bearer,  had  business  to  do  in  Jerusalem ;  so  he  left  the  friends" 
and  the  Master,  with  whom  he  had  ate  and  drank,  and  wandered  to 
and  fro  for  twelve  months,  knowing  them  more  intimately  than  many 
a  man  knows  his  brothers.  He  was  weary  of  it  all,  and  yesterday  he 
had  seen  every  vision  of  wealth  fade  away  into  a  too  certain  prospect 
of  persecution  as  a  follower  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth.     The  purse 


154  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

at  his  side  felt  empty ;  it  would  always  be  empty,  unless  he  took  care 
to  fill  it  for  himself.  Probably,  on  his  way  to  the  city,  he  had  to  pass 
by  a  field  he  had  set  his  mind  on,  and  which  he  had  perhaps  partly 
purchased.  It  was  not  his  yet,  and  it  did  not  seem  likely  it  would 
ever  become  his  whilst  he  served  his  present  Master.  He  entered 
Jerusalem  with  his  mind  made  up.  He  knew  one  way  by  which  he 
could  get  money  to  buy  that  field. 

A  council  of  the  Great  Sanhedrim  was  being  held  in  the  palace  of 
the  high  priest.  The  important  question  laid  before  the  seventy-one 
chief  men  of  the  nation  was  how  Jesus  might  be  taken  by  craft  and 
killed.  Not  on  the  feast  day,  lest  there  be  an  uproar  among  the  people ; 
it  must  be  done  by  subtlety,  in  the  absence  of  the  multitude.  But 
when  was  Jesus  alone  ?  Where  did  he  conceal  himself  when  he  left 
the  city  at  nightfall  ?  There  were  thousands  of  tents  and  booths  erected 
round  the  city  by  the  pilgrims,  who  could  find  no  lodging-place  within 
the  walls ;  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  him.  They  needed  some 
one  to  betray  him. 

This  need  was  met  in  Judas.  They  had  not  even  to  seek  him,  for 
he  came  voluntarily  to  bargain  with  them  how  much  they  should  give 
him  for  delivering  his  Master  to  them.  They  were  glad,  and  promised 
to  give  him  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  to  be  paid  when  they  had  their  prey 
in  their  hands.  Possibly  Judas  felt  in  a  measure  justified  by  his 
knowledge  of  the  miraculous  powers  of  Christ,  if  he  only  chose  to  use 
them  for  escaping  from  his  enemies,  or  even  for  destroying  them  ? 
He,  who  could  call  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  had  but  to  speak  the  word, 
and  no  foe  could  stand  before  him.  And  if  Jesus  were  bent  upon 
death,  it  was  but  prudent  to  secure  himself,  and  make  some  provision 
for  the  dreary  future,  in  place  of  that  which  he  had  forsaken  to  follow 
him. 

Did  Judas  go  back  in  the  fall  of  the  evening  to  the  tranquil  company 
on  Olivet,  and  take  his  place  among  them,  with  a  smile  upon  his  face, 
and  news  from  the  city  on  his  lips  ?  Did  he  sit  down  with  them  to 
their  simple,  homely  supper,  listening  to  catch  up  what  arrangements 
had  been  made  for  the  night ;  where  his  Master  should  sleep,  and  who 
would  be  nearest  to  him  within   hearing?      Did  he  see  the  worn, 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


155 


anxious  face  of  Mary,  smiling  only  when  she  met  the  eyes  of  her  Son 
who  had  lived  with  her  so  many  peaceful  years  under  their  lowly  roof 
at  Nazareth?  Did  he  join  in  the  evening  hymn  sung  before  they 
separated  for  the  night,  the  last  they  would  thus  spend  together? 
We  must  suppose  that  he  did  something  like  this ;  that  he  was  still 
their  comrade  and  fellow-apostle,  Judas ;  and  that  none  guessed  the 
business  that  had  taken  him  to  Jerusalem,  nor  the  bargain  he  had 
made  there. 


CHAPTER  III.— THE  PASCHAL  SUPPER. 


LL  the  next  day  Judas  was  seeking  a  convenient 
opportunity   to    betray   Christ.       He   soon    dis- 
covered that  it  was  his  Master's  purpose  to  eat 
the  Paschal  supper  in  Jerusalem ;  for  there,  and 
there  only,  could  it  be  eaten.     No  doubt  Mary, 
with  that  band  of  timid  and  faithful  women  now 
gathered  about  him,  would  urge  him  to  forego 
his   determination,   so   great    was    the    danger   of 
venturing  into  the   city  and   passing  a   night   there. 
But  with  a  strong   desire   had    he  desired  to   eat  that 
passover  with  his  disciples ;  the  first  and  only  one  they  could 
celebrate  with  him.     He  called   Peter  and  John  to  him,  and 
bade  them  go  and  prepare  the  passover.     At  last,  then,  Judas  was 
satisfied  that  he  would  be  caught  in  the  double  snare  of  the  city  and 
the  feast. 

It  was  the  day  on  which  the  passover  must  be  killed.  At  noon  all' 
work  was  laid  aside,  and  all  leaven  destroyed,  unleavened  bread  alone 
being  lawful  food  for  the  next  eight  days.  In  the  temple  the  evening 
sacrifice  was  offered  an  hour  earlier  than  on  other  days,  for  the  number 
of  passover  lambs  to  be  slain  before  nightfall  was  immense.  During 
this  week  the  whole  company  of  the  priests  was  on  duty ;  and  the 
courts  of  the  temple  were  crowded  with  the  multitudes  of  Jews  who 


156  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.' 

had  come  up  to  the  city  to  keep  the  passover,  and  brought  their  lambs 
to  slay  for  the  Paschal  supper,  which  had  to  be  eaten  that  night;  the 
first  day  of  the  passover  beginning  as  soon  as  the  stars  became  visible 
in  the  sky. 

Peter  and  John,  not  Judas  the  purse-bearer,  had  been  sent  by  Jesus 
to  prepare  the  feast.  They  had  to  choose  and  buy  a  suitable  lamb, 
carry  it  up  to  the  temple,  and  see  that  it  was  roasted  for  supper. 
They  had  asked  where  they  were  to  prepare  it.  Their  Master  had 
friends  in  Jerusalem,  but  some  prudence  was  needed  in  the  choice  of 
the  house  where  he  would  celebrate  the  feast.  He  probably  chose  the 
house  of  some  old  friend,  where,  perhaps,  he  had  in  former  times  eaten 
many  a  joyous  passover  with  his  mother  and  cousins ;  for  in  solemn 
hours  we  choose  rather  to  be  in  familiar  places  than  strange  ones. 
"  The  good  man  of  the  house,"  he  said,  "  will  show  you  a  large  upper 
room,  furnished  and  prepared ;  there  make  ready." 

On  this  day  the  evening  sacrifice  was  offered  about  half-past  two, 
immediately  after  which  the  slaying  of  the  passover  began.  Probably 
the  disciples  were  in  the  first  division  of  those  who  brought  their 
lambs;  for  at  the  fall  of  evening,  as  soon  as  the  stars  shone  in  the 
sky,  the  feast  was  ready.  Christ  had  been  lingering  on  Olivet,  where 
the  hymns  and  hallelujahs  from  the  temple  might  reach  his  ear,  with 
the  blasts  of  the  silver  trumpets  which  told  that  the  Paschal  lamb  was 
slain.  But  as  the  evening  drew  on,  he  descended  the  mount  with  his 
disciples,  and  entered  the  city  unobserved  in  the  twilight.  Most  likely 
Judas  did  not  know  till  then  at  what  house  the  passover  was  to  be 
eaten,  and  he  had  not  yet  found  the  convenient  season  he  was  seeking. 

The  preoccupation  of  the  people  freed  the  little  group  of  men  from 
observation,  as  well  as  the  twilight  which  was  darkening  the  streets. 
Every  Jew  must  eat  the  passover  that  night,  in  his  best  and  festive 
garments.  Many  of  those  who  had  been  latest  in  the  temple  were 
hurrying  homeward  with  the  lamb  that  had  yet  to  be  roasted  for  the 
supper.  All  of  them  were  too  much  engrossed  in  the  celebration  of 
the  feast  to  give  more  than  a  passing  thought  to  the  band  of  Galileans, 
but  dimly  seen,  who  were  following  the  prophet  of  Nazareth  through 
the  streets.     None  were  with  him  save  the  twelve  apostles.     Lazarus, 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


157 


whom  he  had  called  from  the  dead ;  Mary,  his  mother ;  his  kinsmen 
from  Nazareth,  were  not  there.  In  some  other  guest-chamber,  under 
another  roof,  they  would  keep  the  feast  that  night ;  they  had  seen  him 
for  the  last  time,  until  they  saw  him  again  next  morning  on  the  wa) 
to  Calvary. 

It  was  still  early  in  the  evening  when  they  reached  the  large  upper 
chamber,  where  the  feast  was  prepared  for  them.  It  was  enjoined  that 
the  Paschal  supper  should  not  be  eaten  standing,  as  slaves  eat  their 
food ;  but  that  all,  even  the  poorest,  must  sit  down  leaning,  as  free 
men,  who  have  time  to 
feast.  Again,  four  cups 
of  wine  must  be  drunk, 
though  money  must  be 
had  out  of  the  poor-box 
for  its  purchase.  No 
one  was  allowed  to  eat 
after  the  evening  sacri- 
fice until  this  meal  was 
ready,  that  all  might 
come  to  it  with  a  hearty 
appetite.  It  was  a  fes- 
tival for  gladness ;  a 
solemn  day  of  joy;  and 
hymns  of  praises  were 
to  be  sung. 

Jesus  was  the  head  of  this  company,  and  he  took  the  first  cup  of 
wine  into  his  hand,  and  gave  thanks  over  it;  then  passing  it  to  his 
disciples,  he  said,  "Take  this,  and  divide  it  among  yourselves;  for  I 
say  unto  you,  I  will  not  drink  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  the 
kingdom  of  God  shall  come."  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  feast 
After  it,  all  were  enjoined  to  wash  their  hands,  before  the  Paschal  meal 
of  bitter  herbs,  unleavened  bread,  and  the  passover  lamb  was  eaten 
It  was  nov/  that  the  Lord  rose  from  the  supper,  and  laid  aside  the 
white  festive  robe  he  was  wearing,  and  pouring  water  into  a  basin, 
washed  and  wiped  the  feet  of  his  disciples.     There  had  been  a  strife 


WASHING   THE   HANDS. 


158  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

among  them  again  as  to  which  should  be  the  greatest ;  or,  probably, 
which  should  have  the  chief  places  at  the  table.  To  see  him  rise,  and 
thus  minister  to  them,  filled  them  with  shame ;  but  Peter  alone  ven- 
tured to  protest  against  it.  "  Thou  shalt  never  wash  my  feet  I "  he 
cried,  impulsively.  But  when  Christ  said,  "  If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou 
hast  no  part  with  me,"  he  prayed,  "  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  also 
my  hands  and  my  head!"  "He  that  is  washed  needeth  not  save  to 
wash  his  feet,"  anwered  Jesus ;  "  and  ye  are  clean,  but  not  all."  It  was 
the  first  word  of  heaviness  at  the  thousfht  of  the  traitor,  \\'hose  feet  he 
had  washed  with  the  rest.  Sitting  down  again  to  the  table,  he  bade 
them  do  as  he  had  done  to  them,  and  remember  that  the  servant  is 
not  greater  than  his  Lord ;  neither  he  that  is  sent  greater  than  he  that 
sent  him.  "  I  speak  not  of  you  all,"  he  added  ;  "  I  know  whom  I  have 
chosen.  The  scripture  must  be  fulfilled,  He  that  eateth  bread  with  me 
hath  lifted  up  his  heel  against  me." 

This  heart-heaviness  deepened  as  the  feast  went  on ;  the  voice  of 
Judas  mingling  in  the  hymns  of  praise — for  he  dared  not  be  silent — 
must  have  jarred  upon  the  ear  of  Jesus.  He  broke  one  of  the  cakes 
of  unleavened  bread,  and  distributed  it,  with  the  bitter  herbs,  to  his 
disciples,  saying  plainly  to  them,  "  One  of  you  shall  betray  me."  At 
last,  then,  they  knew  that  the  traitor  was  among  the  twelve.  This 
filled  them  with  surprise  and  exceeding  sorrow ;  and  they  not  only 
began  to  inquire  among  themselves  who  it  should  be,  but  every  one 
of  them,  even  Judas,  said  to  him  "  Lord,  is  it  I  ?  "  Jesus  was  himself 
greatly  troubled  in  spirit,  and  the  joyousness  which  should  have 
marked  the  feast  fled,  and  was  succeeded  by  a  heavy  gloom.  The 
youngest  of  the  disciples,  John,  was  reclining  next  to  his  beloved 
Master,  near  enough  to  whisper  to  him  unheard  by  the  others.  Peter 
beckoned  to  him  to  ask  who  the  traitor  was,  and  Jesus  said,  "He  to 
whom  I  shall  give  this  sop,  when  I  have  dipped  it."  He  was  then 
dipping  portions  of  the  unleavened  cake  into  a  preparation  of  raisins 
and  dates,  mixed  with  vinegar,  and  distributing  them  to  the  apostles. 
He  gave  it  to  Judas,  who  just  then  was  asking  him,  "Master,  is  it  I  ?" 
There  was  nothing  in  the  action  to  call  attention  to  the  guilty  man ; 
but  John  knew  certainly,  and  Peter  guessed,  that  it  was  he  who  was 
about  to  betray  his  Lord 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  159 

The  supper  was  only  just  beginning;  and  Judas  considered  the 
present  opportunity  to  be  too  good  to  be  lost,  even  though  he  should 
miss  the  Paschal  meal.  Jesus  was  within  the  walls  of  the  city,  with 
none  but  his  little  band  of  apostles  around  him.  Moreover,  he  now 
felt  sure  that  his  treachery  was  suspected,  if  not  known;  and  he  must 
succeed  at  once,  if  he  wished  to  succeed  at  all.  He  rose  from  the  table 
whilst  they  were  still  in  excitement  as  to  who  was  the  traitor  among 
them.  Such  a  movement,  so  suspicious  and  unaccountable,  must  have 
increased  their  excitement,  and  probably  have  caused  an  attempt  at 
interfering  with  him,  if  Jesus  had  not  said  to  him,  "That  thou  doest,  do 
quickly."  They  supposed  something  had  been  forgotten  that  was 
necessary  for  the  feast,  or  that  there  was  some  poor  person  who 
depended  upon  their  assistance  to  celebrate  it ;  and  that  Judas  would 
return  in  time  to  partake  of  the  Paschal  lamb.  "  Do  it  quickly,"  Jesus 
said.  No  doubt  the  guilty  and  miserable  man  hurried  along  the 
streets,  now  dark,  but  with  the  ringing  notes  of  the  hallelujah  sounding 
from  every  house  as  he  passed  by,  the  only  Jew  in  the  city  who  did 
not  eat  the  passover  that  night. 

The  moment  the  traitor  was  gone,  Jesus  recovered  his  serene  com- 
posure. He  spoke  to  his  disciples  tenderly ;  though  when  Peter 
boasted  that  he  would  lay  down  his  life  for  him,  he  forewarned  him  that 
he  would  that  very  night  deny  him  thrice.  The  supper  was  almost 
over,  the  lamb  was  eaten,  when  Jesus,  taking  into  his  hands  the  third 
cup  of  wine,  called  the  cup  of  blessing,  said,  "  Drink  ye  all  of  it.  This 
is  my  blood  of  the  new  testament,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the 
remission  of  sins.  This  do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance 
of  me."  He  did  not  partake  of  it  himself,  and  he  repeated  what  he 
had  said  at  the  beginning  of  the  feast,  that  he  would  drink  no  more 
of  the  fruit  of  the  vine  until  they  drank  it  with  him  in  his  Father's 
kingdom. 

He  then  addressed  to  them  words  of  surpassing  tenderness, 
beginning  with,  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled :  ye  believe  in  God, 
believe  also  in  me."  Thomas  put  in  a  doubtful  question ;  Philip,  who 
had  been  so  long  with  him,  asked  him  to  show  to  them  the  Father  of 
whom  he  spoke ;  and  Judas,  his  cousin,  once  more  inquired  why  he 


i6o  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

did  not  manifest  himself  to  tlie  world ;  but  for  each  he  had  only  a 
gentle  reproof  that  could  not  grieve  them.  He  promised  them  all  a 
Comforter,  who  should  never  leave  them,  as  he  was  leaving  them. 
There  was  not  now  much  time  for  him  to  talk  with  them.  The  prince 
of  this  world  was  coming.  "Arise,"  he  said,  as  though  he  would  not 
have  Judas  find  him  lingering  in  the  guest  chamber;  "let  us  go 
hence." 

But  still,  as  though  reluctant  to  break  up  that  loving  circle,  he 
lingered  among  them,  to  speak  more  comforting  words,  calling  them 
no  longer  his  disciples,  but  his  friends.  Possibly  he  shrank  from 
quitting  that  quiet  upper  room  for  the  scene  of  the  mysterious  agony 
that  was  coming.  His  work  was  almost  finished ;  there  was  nothing 
for  him  now  to  do,  save  to  suffer.  No  more  blind  eyes  would  he 
open ;  no  more  deaf  ears  unstop.  The  leper  would  not  come  to  him 
for  cleansing,  nor  the  lame  and  palsy-stricken  crowd  about  him  to  be 
healed.  Neither  would  he  teach  any  more  by  parables.  The  next 
crowd  of  faces  surrounding  him  would  not  be  those  of  eager  listeners 
or  faithful  friends.  How  bitter  the  next  few  hours  would  be,  he  knew 
already.  He  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  prayed;  yet  not  for  himself,  but 
for  those  whom  his  Father  had  given  him  out  of  the  world. 

The  last  cup  of  the  passover  was  now  taken  by  the  disciples,  and 
the  last  hymn  sung.  Then  they  went  down  into  the  streets,  echoing 
with  the  songs  of  those  who  kept  the  feast  The  full  moon  flooded 
them  with  light;  and  the  little  company,  feeling  safer  perhaps  as  they 
left  the  city  walls  behind  them,  crossed  the  brook  Kedron,  and  passed 
on  into  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  where  their  Master  was  wont  to 
lead  them  often.  They  were  on  Olivet  again,  near  their  places  of 
refuge ;  and  their  hearts  were  lighter  than  whilst  they  were  in  the  city 
There  was  not  much  danger  here. 


CHAPTER  IV.— GETHSEMANE. 


UT  what  had  hindered  Judas  all  this  time  ?  Jesus 
had  not  hastened  from  the  guest-chamber  to 
escape  from  his  treachery.  It  was  no  great  dis- 
tance to  the  high  priest  s  palace,  or  to  the  temple, 
\vhere  there  were  guards  on  duty.  But  all  were 
occupied  in  celebrating  the  passover,  and  none 
could  sit  down  to  it  earlier  than  the  Lord  seems 
to  have  done.  They  must  keep  the  feast  first; 
•      '  -  >  the  murder  must  be  committed  afterward. 

\  .  ^\_  ,  As  soon,  however,  as  the  feast  was  over,  the  temple 

guards  hurried  to  their  task.  Probably  Judas  may  have 
discovered  before  they  started  that  Jesus  had  left  the  city  already,  and 
it  became  necessary  to  procure  a  detachment  of  Roman  soldiers  from 
the  tower  of  Antonia,  overlooking  the  temple.  The  plea  that  they 
were  about  to  arrest  a  dangerous  leader,  popular  with  the  multitude, 
who  must  be  taken  by  night,  readily  secured  their  aid.  As  the 
soldiers  and  the  temple  guard  passed  through  the  streets,  a  number 
of  fanatical  Pharisees,  armed  with  swords  and  staves,  joined  them ;  a 
few  even  of  the  chief  priests  and  elders  were  there.  Judas  probably 
counselled  them  to  carry  also  torches  and  lanterns ;  for,  though  the 
moon  was  at  the  full,  there  were  dark  and  gloomy  shades  in  the 
garden,  where  Jesus  might  escape  from  their  search. 

In  the  meanwhile  Jesus,  having  left  most  of  his  disciples  in  the 
open  part  of  the  garden,  had  taken  with  him  Peter,  and  James,  and 
John,  and  withdrawn  into  the  more  distant  and  darker  glades,  as 
Judas  had  foreseen.  "Tarry  ye  here,"  he  said  to  his  favorite  friends, 
"whilst  I  go  and  pray  yonder."  It  was  no  solitary  mountain  by  the 
lake  of  Galilee,  such  as  had  been  his  place  of  prayer  the  last  passover 
night.  But  he  must  be  alone ;  no  one  must  be  too  near  to  him  in 
that  hour  of  agony.     A  mysterious  anguish,  a  sorrow  like  no  other 

lo  i6i 


l62 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


sorrow,  was  crushing  him  down.  A  degrading  and  painful  doom  was 
at  hand;  but  first  his  soul  must  be  poured  out  unto  death.  He  had 
been  despised  and  rejected  of  men:  but  now  he  was  to  be  bruised  for 
the  iniquities  of  the  world,  wounded  for  its  transgressions,  put  to 
grief,  by  God,  Even  he  began  to  be  sore  amazed  at  the  profound 
gloom  spreading  over  his  soul.  "  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful, 
even  unto  death,"  he  said  to  his  disciples. 

Withdrawing  from  them  about  a  stone's  cast,  he  fell  on  the  ground, 
and  prayed  that  if  it  were  possible,  this  hour  might  pass  from  him. 
"  Abba,  Father,"  he  cried,  "  all  things  are  possible  to  thee ;  take  away 
__  this  cup  from  me ;  never- 

theless, not  what  I  will, 
but  what  thou  wilt."  But, 
restless  in  his  great  an- 
guish, Jesus  returned  to 
his  three  friends,  whom 
he  had  left  sitting  under 
the  trees,  and  found  them 
sleeping.  He  said  to 
Peter,  "Simon,  sleepest 
thou  ?  couldst  thou  not 
watch  with  me  one 
hour?"  Then  he  added 
gently,  "The  spirit  in- 
deed is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak." 

Back  into  the  solitude  and  gloom  he  went  again  to  suffer  alone 
the  unutterable  agony.  None  could  help  him  to  bear  that  burden. 
He  prayed  more  earnestly.  "  Oh,  my  Father,  if  this  cup  may  not  pass 
from  me,  except  I  drink  it,  thy  will  be  done."  Then,  returning  to 
seek  some  sympathy  with  his  disciples,  he  found  them  again  asleep, 
and  they  knew  not  what  to  say,  except  that  their  eyes  were  heavy. 
Now  utterly  alone,  conscious  that  these,  his  dearest  friends,  could 
take  no  part  in  his  sorrow,  he  went  away  the  third  time,  and  prayed, 
saying  the  same  words.  At  last  one  angel,  one  alone  of  all  the 
heavenly  host  that  sang  at  his  birth,  appeared  to  him,  strengthening 
him  to  endure  that  anguish  worse  than  death. 


GETHSEMAXE. 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE.  163 

Strong  enough  now  to  meet  the  bitter  end,  Jesus  came  the  last 
time  to  his  sleeping  disciples.  Waking  them,  he  said,  "  The  hour  is 
come.  Lo,  he  that  betrayeth  me  is  at  hand."  Even  as  he  spoke, 
before  they  had  time  to  shake  off  their  drowsiness  and  bewilderment, 
they  heard  the  tramp  of  many  feet  coming  near,  and  saw  the 
glimmering  of  torches  among  the  trees.  Jesus  went  forward  to 
meet  the  band  of  soldiers,  asking,  "Whom  seek  ye?"  "Jesus  of 
Nazareth,"  they  answered.  "  I  am  he,"  he  said  calmly.  There  was 
something  in  his  manner  which  so  overawed  them  that  they  shrank 
back  from  him,  and  recoiling  upon  the  crowd  that  pressed  behind,  cast 
some  of  them  to  the  ground.  But  as  they  recovered  themselves  Judas 
came  to  the  front,  and  too  familiar  to  be  swayed  as  they  had  been  by 
the  hidden  majesty  and  the  sacred  dignity  of  great  sorrow  in  his 
Lord,  he  stepped  forth  and  kissed  him,  saying,  "  Master,  Master  1 "  It 
was  the  sign  he  had  given  to  those  who  were  come  to  arrest  Jesus. 
"  Whomsoever  I  shall  kiss,  that  same  is  he :  hold  him  fast,  and  take 
him  away  safely."  "Judas,"  asked  his  Master,  marveling  at  the  depth 
of  his  villany,  "  betrayest  thou  the  Son  of  man  with  a  kiss  ?  " 

Still  the  temple  guards  hesitated  to  seize  him.  They  had  heard  his 
teachings,  and  seen  his  miracles  in  the  temple,  and  possibly  they  were 
afraid  lest  he  should  work  by  his  miraculous  power  against  them. 
There  was  something  terrible  about  a  man  who  could  make  the  dead 
obey,  or  could  convey  himself  away  unseen  amid  a  throng  of  foes. 
They  were  reluctant  to  lay  hands  upon  Jesus,  though  the  traitor,  who 
had  kissed  him,  still  stood  before  them  unhurt.  "  Whom  seek  ye  ?  " 
he  asked,  again.  "Jesus  of  Nazareth,"  they  repeated.  "  I  have  told 
you  that  I  am  he,"  he  answered ;  "  if  therefore  ye  seek  me,  let  these  go 
their  way."  His  three  disciples  were  probably  hemmed  in  by  the 
multitude,  and  the  rest  were  looking  on,  terrified,  from  behind.  Peter, 
with  reckless  desperation,  drew  a  sword,  and  striking  wildly,  smote  a 
servant  of  the  high  priest,  and  cut  off  his  ear.  Jesus  rebuked  him, 
and  healed  the  man ;  his  last  miracle,  wrought  upon  an  enemy  at  the 
moment  he  was  betrayed  into  their  hands.  He  was  yet  free  to  do 
good :  but  now  the  captain  and  the  temple  guard  laid  hold  of  him  and 
bound   him.     "Are   ye   come  out  as   against  a   thief?"   he   asked, 


164  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

indignantly,  yet  patiently.  "  I  was  daily  with  you  in  the  temple, 
and  ye  took  me  not.  But  this  is  your  hour,  and  the  power  of 
darkness."  Seeing  that  he  suffered  himself  to  be  bound,  and  that 
no  legion  of  angels  came  to  deliver  him,  all  the  disciples,  evea 
Peter,  ev^en  John,  forsook  him,  and  fled.  None  of  his  twelve  apostles 
remained  near  to  him  but  Judas. 

Scattered  were  the  disciples,  every  man  fleeing  where  his  fears  led' 
him.  Some,  perhaps,  sought  a  secret  and  safe  retreat  among  the 
farm-houses  on  Olivet;  some  returned  to  the  city,  tremblingly,  to 
convey  the  bitter  news  to  the  other  friends  of  Christ.  Mary,  his 
mother,  with  her  sister,  and  many  other  women  from  Galilee,  were 
lodging  in  Jerusalem  during  the  feast,  and  would  quickly  hear 
what  had  come  to  pass.  His  cousins,  who  had  been  so  long  in 
believing  on  him ;  his  secret  disciples,  such  as  Nicodemus  and 
Joseph  of  Arimathea ;  all  must  have  felt  that  no  common  danger,  no 
slight  catastrophe,  was  at  hand.  There  was  one  hope  still  in  his  favor. 
The  Jews  had  not  the  power  to  put  him  to  death  legally ;  and  even 
if  they  had,  their  traditions  laid  it  down  as  a  law,  that  whenever  a 
criminal  was  condemned  to  die,  he  should  not  be  executed  on  the 
same  day  as  that  when  the  verdict  was  passed,  and  that  the  judgment 
should  be  reconsidered  by  the  great  Sanhedrim  on  the  day  following. 
Jesus  could  not  in  any  case  be  put  to  death  before  the  first  day  of 
the  week :  and  in  the  meantime  heaven  and  earth  must  be  moved  to 
deliver  him  out  of  the  hands  of  his  adversaries.  He  had  a  powerful 
party  in  his  favor ;  and  it  was  never  difficult  to  stir  up  a  popular 
agitation  during  the  feasts.  The  dark  hours  of  the  night  passed  by 
too  rapidly  as  they  consulted  together  concerning  what  must  be 
done. 


CHRIST  IN  THE  GARDEN. 
■'And  He  went  Forward  a  Little,  and  Feil  on  the  Ground,  and  Prayed." — Luke  14  :  35 


BEHOLD  THE  MAN."-John  19:  5. 


CHAPTER  v.— THE  HIGH   PRIEST'S   PALACE. 


LONE,  save  for  Judas,  bound,  followed  by  a  rabble 
of  scoffing  partisans  of  the  chief  priests  and 
elders,  Jesus  was  led  away  from  the  Garden  of 
Gethsemane.  The  guards  took  him  first  to  the 
house  of  Annas,  the  father-in-law  of  the  high 
priest,  a  haughty  and  powerful  man.  The  chief 
offices  of  the  temple  were  filled  by  members  of 
his  family,  who  were  all  Sadducees,  and  had  not 
been  vehemently  opposed  to  Christ  until  his  influence 
with  the  people  began  to  threaten  their  own,  and  to 
endanger  the  revenues  of  the  temple,  from  which  they  drew 
their  wealth.  Annas,  who  was  an  old  man,  probably  did  not 
trouble  himself  to  see  the  prisoner  at  that  hour  of  the  night,  but  sent 
him  on  to  the  palace  of  Caiaphas,  the  high  priest,  where  the  Great 
Sanhedrim  would  assemble  as  soon  as  they  could  be  summoned  from 
their  various  homes. 

By  this  time  Peter  and  John  had  fallen  in  with  one  another;  and 
recovering  somewhat  from  the  panic  that  had  seized  them,  they 
followed  their  Master  to  the  high  priest's  house.  John  knew  Caiaphas 
so  well  as  to  find  easy  admittance  into  his  palace,  and  he  went  in  with 
Jesus,  as  near  to  him  as  he  could  get,  that  he  might  see  that  his 
beloved  disciple  had  not  altogether  forsaken  him.  But  Peter  had 
been  unable  to  get  in,  and  after  a  while  John  went  and  spoke  for  him 
to  the  woman  who  kept  the  door,  and  brought  him  into  the  open  court 
of  the  palace. 

The  chief  priests  and  elders,  who  had  gone  out  to  Gethsemane  with 
officers  and  soldiers,  now  formed  themselves  into  a  preliminary  council 
to  examine  Jesus,  before  the  Great  Sanhedrim  could  meet.  Caiaphas 
was  at  the  head  of  it,  and  asked  him  of  his  disciples  and  doctrine.  As 
to  his  disciples  Jesus  said  nothing,  but  about  his  doctrine  he  answered, 

167 


168  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

"  I  spoke  openly  to  the  world ;  I  ever  taught  in  the  synagogue  and  the 
temple,  whither  the  Jews  always  resort ;  and  in  secret  have  I  said 
nothing.  Why  askest  thou  me  ?  ask  them  which  heard  me."  Most 
of  those  who  were  present  had  heard  him  in  the  temple ;  the  guards 
had  once  said,  "  Never  man  spake  like  this  man."  But  now  one  of 
them  struck  him  for  answering  the  high  priest  so.  It  was  yet  an  hour 
or  two  before  daybreak,  at  which  time  the  Sanhedrim  was  to  assemble, 
and  it  would  seem  that  Caiaphas  at  this  time  left  Christ  to  the  wicked 
cruelties  of  his  servants  Probably  they  led  him  from  the  hall,  where 
this  brief  examination  had  taken  place,  into  the  open  court,  when  they 
blindfolded  him,  and  striking  him  on  the  face  cried  mockingly, 
"  Prophesy,  who  is  it  that  smote  thee  ?"  Other  insults  they  heaped 
upon  him,  with  the  rude  brutality  of  men  who  knew  that  they  should 
not  offend  their  masters  by  such  misconduct. 

It  was  a  chilly  night,  and  the  servants  had  kindled  a  fire  in  the  court, 
Peter  standing  with  them  to  warm  himself  Before  his  Master  was 
brought  out  to  be  mocked  and  insulted,  one  of  the  maids  of  the  high 
priest,  looking  at  him,  said,  "  Thou  also  wert  with  Jesus  of  Nazareth." 
He  was  instantly  and  naturally  filled  with  fear,  and  denied  it-at  once, 
saying,  "  I  do  not  understand  what  thou  sayest.  I  am  not  one  of  his 
disciples."  He  felt  it  to  be  wisest  to  withdraw  from  the  circle  round 
the  fire,  and  retreated  into  the  darkness  of  the  porch.  It  was  already 
drawing  near  to  daybreak,  for  a  cock  crew  as  he  stood  in  the  gateway. 
Then  the  woman  who  kept  the  door  asked  him  again,  "  Art  thou  not 
one  of  this  man's  disciples?"  "I  am  not,"  he  replied  shortly.  Once 
more  feeling  nowhere  safe,  yet  reluctant  to  quit  the  palace,  he  returned 
into  the  court,  where,  it  may  be,  his  Lord  was  now  standing,  bearing 
in  silence  the  cruelties  of  the  servants.  A  kinsman  of  Malchus,  whose 
ear  he  had  cut  off  in  Gethsemane,  soon  asked  him,  "  Did  I  not  see  thee 
in  the  garden  with  him  ?  "  They  that  stood  by  said  confidently,  "  Surely 
thou  art  one  of  them,  for  thou  art  a  Galilean,  and  thy  speech  betrayeth 
thee."  Then  Peter  began  to  curse  and  to  swear,  "  I  know  not  this 
man  of  whom  ye  speak."  His  Lord,  who  heard  his  oaths,  turned  and 
looked  upon  him,  and  he  remembered  the  word  he  had  spoken,  "Before 
the  cock  crow  twice,  thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice."     He  had  not  believed 


THE  WONDERFUL  UFR  169 

himself  so  cowardly  and  disloyal.  Even  now  he  dared  not  stand  forth 
and  own  himself  a  disciple  of  the  mocked  and  despised  prophet  of 
Nazareth ;  but  creeping  away  from  the  palace,  with  that  last  look  of 
his  Master  haunting  him,  he  went  out  into  the  dawning  of  the  day, 
and  wept  bitterly.  Worse  than  the  insults  of  the  servants  must  have 
been  the  vehement  denials  of  his  disciple,  and  Peter  could  not  fail  to 
remember  the  awful  saying,  "  Whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of  me, 
and  of  my  words,  in  this  adulterous  and  sinful  generation,  of  him  shall 
the  Son  of  man  be  ashamed,  when  he  cometh  in  the  glory  of  his 
Father  with  the  holy  angels." 

By  daybreak  the  Sanhedrim  were  assembled,  and  Jesus  was  brought 
before  them.  They  had  all  been  seeking  witnesses  against  him,  but 
none  could  be  found  whose  witness  agreed.  It  was  necessary  that  at 
least  two  should  agree.  After  a  while  there  came  forward  two  men, 
one  of  whom  testified  he  had  heard  him  say,  "  I  will  destroy  this 
temple,  that  is  made  with  hands,  and  within  three  days  I  will  build 
another  made  without  hands,"  The  accusation  took  a  more  doubtful 
form  with  the  other  witness,  "  I  am  able  to  destroy  this  temple  of  God, 
and  to  build  it  in  three  days."  Even  this  testimony  did  not  agree 
sufficiently.  Neither  the  high  priest,  nor  the  Sanhedrim,  eager  as  they 
were  to  convict  him,  could  be  satisfied  to  do  so  on  such  paltry  evi- 
dence. Jesus  was  standing  before  them,  questioning  nothing,  answer- 
ing nothing;  giving  them  no  chance  of  fastening  upon  any  indiscreet 
words.  The  scene  altogether  must  have  been  unutterably  painful  to 
him,  apart  from  his  own  position.  The  great  religious  body  of  the 
nation,  the  most  learned  in  the  law,  the  most  irreproachable  in  char- 
acter, the  men  presumed  to  be  the  wisest  and  best  of  the  nation,  were 
shamelessly  seeking  evidence  by  which  they  might  condemn  to  death 
a  prophet,  of  whom  no  man  knew  any  evil. 

At  last  Caiaphas  stood  up  in  the  midst,  in  his  office  as  high  priest, 
and  adjured  Christ,  by  the  living  God,  to  tell  them  whether  he  was  the 
Messiah,  the  Son  of  God.  "  I  am,"  he  replied ;  "  and  ye  shall  see  the 
Son  of  man  on  the  right  hand  of  power,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven."  There  was  no  further  need  of  perjured  witnesses.  All  had 
heard  the  awful  words.    Caiaphas  rent  his  clothes,  crying,  "  He  hath 


170  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.'    ' 

spoken   blasphemy!     What   think   ye?"     With   one   voice   they  all 
declared  him  to  be  worthy  of  death. 

Jesus  knew  when  he  uttered  these  words  that  he  was  pronouncing 
his  own  sentence.  Until  that  question  was  asked  him  he  had  b^en 
dumb,  opening  not  his  mouth.  But  the  form  in  which  the  question 
was  put  left  him  no-choice  but  to  answer.  The  moment. in  which  he 
most  distinctly  claimed  to  be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  was  the 
moment  when  such  a  claim,  was  his  death-knell.  Until  now  he  had 
left  his  works  to  speak  for  him.  Even  with  his  disciples  he  had  seldom 
insisted  on  being  the  Messiah ;  he  had  never  held  himself  aloof  from 
them  in  kingly  state.  With  them  he  was  the  Son  of  man,  their  brother; 
before  the  Sanhedrim  he  called  himself  the  Son  of  God,  their  Judge. 


CHAPTER   VI.— PILATE'S  JUDGMENT   HALL. 

-    TRAIGHTWAY,  in  the  light  of  the  rising  sun, 

:        the  whole  multitude  of  them  arose,  and  led 

^       Jesus  away  to  Pilate's  judgment  hail.     It  was 

early,  and  the  city  would  hardly  be  astir  after 

the  feast  last  night.     The  friends  of  Jesus  were 

still  buoyed  up  with  the  thought  that,  at  the 

earliest,  the  crime  of  his  death  could  not  be 

committed  until  after  the  Sabbath  was   ended. 

The  haste  of  the  Sanhedrim  was  not  only  indecent, 

but  it  was  illegal,  according  to  their  own  traditions. 

They  had  taken  no  time  to  reconsider  their  verdict.     The 

judges  had  not  fasted  for  a  whole  day,  as  they  were  bound  to  do  after 

sentencing  a  man  to  death  before  he  was  led  away  to  execution.    The 

death  of  Christ  was  a  judicial  murder  of  the  blackest  dye. 

But  at  the  threshold  of  Pilate's  judgment  hall  a  difficulty  presented 
itself.  If  they  entered  it  they  would  be  defiled,  and  could  not  partake 
of  the  feast  of  that  day.     On  this  day  the  Chagigah  was  offered,  which 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  171 

was  strictly  a  peace-offering,  and  symbolized  their  unbroken  and  un- 
dimmed  communion  with  God.  A  portion  of  the  offering  was  buini 
upon  the  altar,  and  a  portion  eaten  as  a  feast  in  the  temple  itself,  or, 
at  least,  within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  Probably  the  Great  Sanhedrim 
kept  this  feast  in  some  stately  chamber  of  the  temple ;  for  did  not  they 
stand  nearer  to  God  than  any  other  of  the  people  ?  But  if  they  went 
into  Pilate's  judgment  hall  with  their  prisoner  they  would  be  defiled, 
lid  rendered  unfit  for  its  celebration. 

Pilate  had  had  many  a  serious  conflict  with  the  Jews  on  subjects  of 
their  religion,  which  he  despised  and  misunderstood ;  yet  he  now 
yielded  so  far  as  to  go  out  to  these  wealthy  and  noble  citizens.  "What 
accusation  bring  ye  against  this  man  ?  "  he  asked.  They  did  not  wish 
to  make  any  definite  accusation,  and  they  answered  sharply,  that  if  he 
had  not  been  an  evil-doer,  they  would  not  have  taken  the  trouble  to 
deliver  him  up  to  him.  "Take  him  yourselves,"  said  Pilate,  "and 
judge  him  according  to  your  law."  "  It  is  not  lawful  for  us  to  put  any 
man  to  death,"  they  said. 

No  doubt  Pilate  knew  already  something  of  Jesus,  the  prophet  of 
Nazareth,  who  had  entered  the  city  in  what  appeared  to  him  a  mock 
triumph  only  five  days  before.  This  reply  of  the  Sanhedrim  showed 
him  at  once  what  they  wanted.  The  prophet  must  be  put  to  death, 
and  he  must  bear  the  blame  of  it.  But  upon  what  grounds  was  he  to 
crucify  this  man  ?  The  Sanhedrim  were  not  at  a  loss,  though  they 
could  say  nothing  here  of  the  charge  of  blasphemy.  "  We  found 
him,"  said  these  religious  rulers  of  the  country,  "we  found  this  fellow 
preverting  the  nation,  and  forbidding  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar,  saying 
that  he  is  Christ,  a  king."  All  there  must  have  known  how  Jesus  had 
disappointed  his  followers  by  bidding  them  render  unto  Caesar  the 
things  that  were  Caesar's.  Pilate  returned  to  the  judgment  hall,  and 
looked  upon  the  weary  frame  and  worn  face  of  him  who  all  night  long 
had  been  passing  through  agony  after  agony.  He  still  wore  the  festive 
robes  in  which  he  had  eaten  of  the  Paschal  supper;  but  even  these 
were  only  the  clothing  of  a  poor  man,  a  man  of  the  people,  not  those 
of  any  kingly  pretender.  "  Art  thou  the  King  of  the  Jews  ?  "  h«  asked 
li<e  lloman  governor  seems   to  have  felt  kindly  toward  him,  as  a 


172  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

harmless  fanatic,  whose  vague  language  had  brought  him  into  dangcE 
Jesus  told  him  he  had  indeed  a  kingdom,  but  it  was  not  in  this  world. 
True  men  alone  could  hear  his  voice.  "  What  is  truth  ?  "  asked  Pilate, 
mockingly.  He  had  not  found  it  among  the  Romans ;  and  certainly 
it  did  not  exist  among  the  Jews.  He  could  not  but  suspect  the  whole 
charge  against  Jesus  to  be  a  skilfully  framed  falsehood.  But  he  was 
prepossessed  in  his  favor,  and  more  than  willing  to  disappoint  his 
accusers.  He  left  Jesus,  and  went  out  again  to  the  pavement,  or 
terrace,  before  his  palace.  By  this  time  a  rabble  of  citizens  had 
gathered,  among  whom  the  partisans  of  the  Sanhedrim  were  scattered, 
artfully  exciting  them  against  Jesus,  as  one  who  had  deceived  the 
people  and  threatened  to  destroy  the  temple.  Probably  a  small  num- 
ber of  his  friends  were  also  among  the  crowd,  bewildered  and  shocked 
to  find  their  Master  handed  over  to  the  Roman  power.  But  when 
Pilate  was  seen  all  were  still ;  a  few  in  breathless  hope,  the  many  in 
silent  hatred. 

"  I  find  in  him  no  fault  at  all,"  said  the  governor  A  thrill  of  great 
joy  must  have  run  through  the  heart  of  John,  who  had  followed  his 
Lord  faithfully.  But  a  fierce  clamor  began ,  and  the  chief  priests 
would  not  suffer  their  accusation  to  fall  to  the  ground, 

"  He  stirreth  up  the  people,"  they  cried,  "  teaching  throughout  all 
Jewry,  beginning  from  Galilee,  even  to  this  place." 

Here  was  a  loophole  for  Pilate  to  escape  from  his  difficulty.  If 
Jesus  came  from  Galilee,  he  belonged  to  Herod's  jurisdiction  Herod 
was  come  up  to  the  passover ;  and  Pilate  would  pay  him  a  compliment 
by  referring  the  case  to  him.  They  were  not  friends  at  this  moment, 
probably  because  of  those  Galileans  whom  Pilate  had  slain  during  one 
of  the  riots  at  some  feast,  but  the  Roman  governor  was  anxious  to  be 
at  peace  with  him.  He  therefore  sent  Jesus  to  Herod,  who  had  for  a 
long  time  wished  to  see  the  famous  prophet  of  his  own  country,  whose 
miracles  were  noised  abroad  so  much.  The  priests  and  scribes 
violently  accused  him  before  Herod ;  but  Jesus  spoke  not  a  word. 
He  had  never  before  seen  the  face  of  the  man  who  had  murdered 
John  the  Baptist  in  prison;  and  none  of  his  questions  would  he 
answer,  though  he  answered  Pilate's.     But  even   Herod  dared  not 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE.  ■  173 

condemn  him  to  death  on  charges  so  frivolous  and  false  as  those 
urged  against  him.  He  had  already  exasperated  his  people  by  John's 
assassination,  and  he  could  not  venture  to  return  to  Galilee  stained 
with  the  blood  of  Jesus.  Yet  he  would  not  offend  the  Sanhedrim  by 
releasing  the  prisoner;  and  he  determined  to  send  him  again  to 
Pilate.  But  to  gratify  his  own  paltry  pique  and  disappointment, 
and  to  cast  ridicule  upon  Christ,  he  arrayed  him  in  a  gorgeous 
robe,  and  joined  with  his  men  of  war  in  mocking  him,  before  sending 
him  back. 

Pilate  was  troubled  by  the  return  of  the  prisoner  and  his  accusers. 
He  knew  that  the  leading  men  of  the  nation  were  unfriendly  to  him. 
They  had  already  succeeded  in  bringing  him  into  difficulties  with  his 
emperor,  and  they  were  eager  to  have  him  disgraced  and  removed. 
Yet  he  shrank  from  the  injustice  of  putting  Jesus  to  death.  There 
was  one  chance  left  in  an  appeal  to  the  people,  who  had  so  lately 
assisted  in  his  triumphal  entry  in  Jerusalem.  He  called  them 
together,  with  the  chief  priests  and  elders,  and  said,  "  Ye  have 
brought  this  man  unto  me,  as  one  that  perverteth  the  people,  and, 
behold,  I,  having  examined  him,  find  no  fault  in  him  at  all,  concerning 
those  things  whereof  ye  accuse  him  ;  no,  nor  yet  Herod,  for  I  sent  you 
to  him,  and  lo,  nothing  worthy  of  death  is  found  in  him.  I  will  there- 
fore chastise  him  and  let  him  go." 

It  had  of  late  years  been  the  custom  of  the  governor  to  allow  the 
people  at  this  feast  to  choose  a  prisoner,  whom  they  would,  who  was 
immediately  set  free.  There  was  a  notorious  man  lying  in  prison  at 
this  time,  guilty  of  robbery,  sedition,  and  murder.  The  chief  priests 
suggested  to  them  that  they  should  choose  Barabbas.  A  loud  uproar 
was  made,  all  crying  out  at  once,  "  Away  with  this  man,  and  release 
unto  us  Barabbas."  But  Pilate,  still  willing  to  save  Jesus,  yet  desirous 
to  sneer  at  the  accusations  made  by  the  Sanhedrim,  asked  them,  "  Will 
ye  that  I  release  unto  you  the  King  of  the  Jews  ?  "  The  taunt  irritated 
the  mob,  and  they  shouted,  "  Crucify  him ;  crucify  him."  •'  Why,  what 
evil  hath  he  done  ? "  pleaded  Pilate.  But  they  cried  out  the  more 
exceedingly,  with  loud  voices,  "  Crucify  him." 

Yet  still  Pilate  seems  to  have  had  a  lingering  hope  that  the  punish- 


174  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

ment  of  scourging,  which  was  at  once  most  painful  and  degrading, 
might  satisfy  their  enmity.  He  delivered  Christ  to  his  soldiers,  who 
platted  a  crown  of  thorns,  and  put  a  reed  into  his  hand  as  a  sceptre ; 
he  was  still  wearing  the  gorgeous  robe  in  which  Herod  had  sent  him 
back  to  Pilate,  and  thus,  after  he  had  been  scourged,  he  was  brought 
forth  for  the  mob  to  see  him.  "  Behold  the  man,"  said  Pilate.  It  wa? 
he  whom  they  had  seen  healing  the  lame  and  blind  in  the  temple,  and 
to  whom  they  had  listened  gladly  not  long  ago ;  for  it  was  among  the 
poorest  and  most  wretched  of  the  people  that  his  mighty  works  had 
been  wrought.  But  at  the  sight  of  him  a  maddened  yell  arose, 
"  Away  with  him  I  away  with  him  I  crucify  him  1  crucify  him  I  "  Their  ■ 
violence  prevailed.  But  Pilate  still  shrank  from  taking  upon  himself 
the  guilt  of  such  a  crime  against  justice.  He  had  just  received  a 
message  from  his  wife :  "  Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with  that  just 
man ;  for  I  have  suffered  many  things  this  day  in  a  dream  because 
of  him."  He  may  not  have  been  superstitious,  but  he  felt  it  would 
be  painful  to  return  to  her  stained  with  the  blood  of  an  innocent 
man  for  whom  she  had  interceded,  with  no  other  excuse  than  that 
the  people  of  Jerusalem  were  too  strong  for  him.  "Take  ye  him,, 
and  crucify  him,  for  I  find  no  fault  in  him,"  he  said,  I 

This  did  not  suit  the  priestly  party  at  all.  Their  law  did  not 
permit  of  crucifixion,  and  they  were  bent  upon  this  degrading 
punishment.  Neither  did  they  wish  to  incur  the  odium  of  blood- 
shed, though  they  did  not  shrink  from  the  guilt  of  it.  In  their 
anxiety  to  urge  Pilate  on,  they  forgot  for  a  moment  their  political 
charge  against  Jesus,  and  returned  to  their  religious  accusation.  "  He 
made  himself  the  Son  of  God,"  they  cried,  "  and  by  our  law  he  ought 
to  die."  Upon  this  Pilate  returned  into  the  judgment  hall,  and  had 
Jesus  brought  again  to  him.  "  Whence  art  thou  ?  "  he  asked.  But 
he  was  silent ;  and  Pilate,  astonished  and  somewhat  indignant  at  his 
silence,  reminded  him  that  he  had  power  to  release  him  or  to  crucify 
him.  This  was  no  longer  true.  He  had  lost  his  power  by  not 
f.xerting  it  at  once,  and  he  felt  it.  He  could  not  let  Jesus  go  now^ 
without  stirring  up  a  riot  of  a  desperate  character  in  Jerusalem.  Jesus 
answered  him,  in  words  almost  of  sympathy,  that  he  could  have  no 


r 


j>^- 


■--■4^* 


PREACHING  TO  THE  MULTITUDE.— Luke  21:  9. 


TK^.  ".'."^Tis  aW^         ^' 


*?        t 


:l<"-^ 


>s. 


■I 


& 


i  *■■.. 


_,,-^^ 


^j^yg^txattT^ 


"THIS  IS  MY  BLOOD  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT,  WHICH  IS  SHED  FOR 
MANY."-Matt.  26:  28. 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


177 


power  at  all  against  him,  unless  it  had  been  permitted ;  and  that  his 
sin  was  small  compared  with  that  of  the  Sanhedrim. 

Again  Pilate  sought  to  release  him.  But  the  people  cried  out 
"  If  thou  let  this  man  go,  thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend :  whoso<^vc 
iriaketh  himself  a  king,  speaketh  against  Caesar."  This  cry  at  onct 
sealed  the  doom  of  Christ.  Pilate  ordered  his  judgment  seat  to  be 
set  on  the  pavement  before  the  judgment  hall.  When  Jesus  came 
forth  again,  he  said,  "  Behold  your  King  I  "  A  wilder  shout  than  evei 
rang  in  the  ears  of  Christ:  the  shouts  of  those  for  whom  he  had 
spent  his  life.  "What,  shall  I  crucify  your  King?"  asked  Pilate 
"  We  have  no  king  but  Caesar,"  answered  the  chief  priests. 

Then  fearing,  and  seeing  that  he  could  not  prevail  against  fanatics 
who  could  utter  such  an  answer,  Pilate  took  water,  and  washed  his 
hands  before  the  multitude. 

"  I  am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this  just  person,"  he  said ;  "  see 
ye  to  it." 

*'  His  blood  be  on  us,  and  on  our  children,"  answered  all  the  people 


PILATE  WASHING  HIS  HANDS. 


CHAPTER  VII.— CALVARY. 


O  TIME  was  lost  between  the  passing  of  the 
verdict  and  the  execution  of  it.  The  cross 
was  ready ;  and  two  thieves  were  only 
waiting  for  this  trial  to  close  before  they 
met  their  punishment.  Calvary  was  not 
far  from  Pilate's  palace ;  it  was  only  just 
beyond  the  city  walls,  near  the  highway 
leading  from  one  of  the  gates.  Christ  was 
the  hands  of  the  Roman  soldiers ;  but  the 
chief  priests  and  elders  could  not  trust  them  to  do 
their  work  unwatched.  The  cross  was  laid  upon  him, 
but  he  was  too  feeble  and  worn-out  to  bear  it;  and  when  he  sank  under 
it,  the  soldiers  seized  upon  a  man,  coming  in  from  the  country,  and 
him  they  compelled  to  carry  the  cross  to  Calvary.  Whether  the  man 
was  a  disciple  or  not,  we  are  not  told ;  but  no  doubt  there  were  many 
disciples  by  this  time  mingling  with  the  crowd,  who  would  willingly 
have  borne  the  cross  after  Jesus.  There  were  many  women  among 
the  people,  who  bewailed  and  lamented  him  openly ;  daughters  of 
Jerusalem,  who  had  not  turned  against  him  as  the  fickle  mob  had 
done.  Possibly  it  was  when  he  sank  under  the  weight  of  his  cross 
that  their  lamentation  broke  out  most  loudly;  and  Jesus  turned  to 
them,  and  said,  "  Weep  not  for  me,  but  weep  for  yourselves,  and  for 
your  children."  The  fate  of  the  guilty  city  was  heavier  to  him  than 
his  cross.  It  was  still  early  in  the  day;  about  the  hour  when  the 
morning  sacrifice  was  offered.  He  was  nailed  upon  the  cross;  and  as 
it  was  lifted  and  let  fall  into  the  hole  prepared  for  it,  a  moment  of 
extreme  torture,  he  cried,  "  Father,  forgive  them ;  they  know  not  what 
they  do."  After  this  was  done,  the  four  soldiers,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  watch  under  the  cross  until  the  person  upon  it  was  dead,  began 
their  usual  custom  of  dividing  the  clothing  among  them.  A  title  also 
178 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  179 

was  brought  to  be  put  over  the  head  of  the  criminal,  giving  his  name 
and  crime.  Pilate  had  sent  for  the  cross  of  Christ,  written  in  Hebrew, 
and  Greek,  and  Latin,  so  that  all  should  be  able  to  read  it,  this  title, 
"Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  King  of  the  Jews."  It  irritated  and  offended 
the  chief  priests  ;  but  Pilate  would  not  have  it  altered  into  "He  said, 
I  am  the  King  of  the  Jews." 

The  haste  with  which  the  trial  and  the  execution  had  been  hurried 
on  makes  it  probable  that  not  many  of  the  Galileans  knew  of  the 
arrest  of  their  prophet  Some  of  them  possibly  knew  nothing  of  it 
until  they  heard  that  he  was  dead.  But  as  the  terrible  tidings  ran 
through  the  city,  those  who  heard  it  would  speed  to  Calvary  with 
despair  in  their  hearts,  to  find  him  whom  they  loved  and  trusted  in 
hanging  upon  a  cross  between  two  thieves,  with  a  circle  of  enemies 
around  him,  even  of  chief  priests  and  elders,  mocking  at  him  and 
jibing  him.  The  soldiers  at  the  foot  casting  lots  over  that  priestly 
robe  of  his,  which  his  mother  had  woven  without  seam ;  and  the  title 
over  his  head,  "Jesus  of  Nazareth,  King  of  the  Jews:"  the  unclouded 
sun,  growing  hotter  and  hotter  every  minute,  shining  down  upon  all 
the  fearful  scene,  as  it  was  shining  on  their  own  beloved  lake  and  hills 
of  Galilee. 

John  had  been  near  him  all  the  time.  Now  three  women  forced 
their  way  through  the  circle  of  mocking  priests ;  Mary,  his  mother, 
Mary  Cleophas,  her  sister,  and  Mary  of  Magdalene.  Other  women 
from  Galilee  stood  afar  off,  watching  through  the  weary  hours.  Peter, 
perhaps,  was  somewhere  on  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd,  seeing,  though 
not  danng  to  go  near,  him  whom  he  had  denied  thrice.  Possibly 
Judas  himself  was  drawn  thither,  against  his  will,  to  look  once  more 
on  him  whom  he  had  betrayed  with  a  kiss. 

The  sun  shone  hot  and  clear.  When  they  brought  Jesus  to  the 
place  of  execution,  they  had  offered  to  him  a  drugged  draught,  which 
was  given  to  criminals  to  dull  their  sense  of  pain ;  but  having  tasted 
thereof,  he  would  not  drink.  He  could  see,  and  hear,  and  feel  as 
keenly  as  when  he  had  been  in  his  quiet  home  in  Nazareth.  The 
mocking  faces  of  the  chief  priests ;  the  unconcerned  faces  of  the 
soldiers ;  the  soul-stricken  face  of  his  mother ;  his  eyes  rested  upon, 


i8o  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

as  they  looked  up  to  him  from  below.  His  ears  heard  the  jeering  of 
the  people  as  they  went  to  and  fro  along  the  highway,  reviling  him, 
and  saying,  "  Ah  !  thou  that  destroyest  the  temple  !  "  Now  and  then 
the  blast  of  the  silver  trumpets  and  the  voice  of  song  from  the  temple 
reached  him.  After  a  while  the  first  pangs  of  bodily  pain  had  dulled 
a  little ;  and  he  could  again  show  his  compassion  and  tenderness  for 
others.  The  thieves  hanging,  where  James  and  John  had  wished  to 
sit,  the  ore  on  his  right  hand,  the  other  on  his  left,  had  reviled  him  as 
well  as  his  enemies.  "  If  thou  be  the  Christ,  save  thyself  and  us," 
they  cried.  But  one  of  them,  lifting  up  his  dim  eyes  to  the  face  of 
Christ,  and  to  the  title  above  his  head,  saw  that  it  was  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth who  was  suffering  death  with  them.  "  Dost  thou  not  fear  God?" 
he  cried  to  his  fellow- thief,  "  seeing  thou  art  in  the  same  condemnation. 
And  we  indeed  justly,  for  we  receive  the  due  reward  of  our  deeds; 
but  this  man  hath  done  nothing  amiss."  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  King  of 
the  Jews !  There  was  one,  even  here,  ready  to  own  him  King. 
"  Lord,"  said  the  dying  thief,  "  remember  me  when  thou  comest  into 
thy  kingdom."  "Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  to-day  shalt  thou  be  with 
me  in  Paradise,"  answered  Jesus,  Before  the  sun,  which  was  now 
beating  upon  the  shameful  crosses  where  they  hung,  had  gone  down 
into  the  western  sea,  both  of  them  would  be  in  Paradise !  His 
mother  heard  him  say  it  as  she  stood  beneath  his  cross. 

But  Jesus  knew  his  worst  anguish  was  yet  to  come,  worse  than  the 
pain  he  felt  in  his  body,  or  the  bitterness  of  the  contempt  poured  upon 
him,  and  he  would  not  have  his  mother  witness  it.  She  had  borne 
much,  and  perhaps  could  not  bear  more,  and  live.  We  can  well 
believe  no  other  being  on  earth  was  so  dear  to  him.  None  had 
shared  his  whole  life  as  she  had  done;  none  could  understand  him. 
and  his  purpose  so  well.  Did  he  not  remember  their  home  in  Naza- 
reth, where  the  peaceful,  monotonous  days  followed  one  another  so 
quietly  that  she  had  almost  forgotten  whose  son  he  was  ?  All  was 
over  between  them  now:  there  was  but  on&  more  duty  for  him  to 
discharge :  one  more  look  for  her  to  take  >f  her  son  Jesus.  John 
stood  near  tr'  her:  his  youngest  and  bjst  beioved  disciple.  Looking 
down   upon    them,  with  his   matchless   tenderness,  he  said  to  her, 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  i8i 

"Woman,  behold  thy  son."  "Behold  thy  mother!"  he  said  to  John. 
She  looked  up  to  him,  as  his  failing,  loving  voice  fell  upon  her  ear: 
and  she  understood  him,  and  his  love,  better  than  she  had  ever  done 
before.  The  look  that  passed  between  them  was  their  farewell.  John 
led  her  away  from  the  cross  to  his  own  dwelling-place ;  and  the  last 
earthly  care  was  gone  from  the  heart  of  Jesus. 

About  noon  a  strange  gloom  spread  over  those  skies,  usually  so 
blue  and  cloudless.  There  was  darkness  over  all  the  land  until  the 
hour  for  the  evening  sacrifice.  Probably  the  crowd  melted  away  in 
fear  of  a  coming  tempest,  or  in  dread  of  the  inexplicable  obscurity ; 
and  we  do  not  find  that  the  chief  priests  lingered  longer  on  Calvary. 
An  extraordinary  anguish,  a  mysterious  darkness,  as  of  despair,  filled 
the  heart  and  mind  of  Christ.  His  soul,  which  in  Gethsemane  had 
been  sorrowful  even  unto  death,  was  now  poured  out  unto  death. 
He  had  borne  the  mockery  of  the  people,  had  seen  them  stare  upon 
him  with  cruel  eyes,  and  heard  their  roaring  against  him.  But  now 
God  seemed  to  hide  his  face  from  him,  and  to  hearken  no  longer  to 
his  cry.  This  he  could  not  bear ;  his  heart  was  breaking  under  this 
sorrow.  He  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  which  rang  mournfully  through 
the  darkness,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ? " 
There  were  still  about  the  cross  some  Jews  who  could  make  jest  of 
this  awful  cry.  They  knew  Elias  was  to  come  to  prepare  the  way  for 
the  Messiah,  and  they  said,  "  Behold,  he  calleth  Elias  !  "  Jesus,  whose 
last  moment  was  at  hand,  and  whose  throat  was  parched,  cried,  "  I 
thirst."  One  of  them,  touched  with  pity,  ran  and  took  a  sponge,  and, 
filling  it  with  vinegar,  lifted  it  to  his  mouth  on  a  reed.  But  the  rest 
cried,  "  Let  him  be ;  let  us  see  whether  Elias  will  come  to  save  him, 
and  to  take  him  down." 

It  was  now  the  hour  of  the  evening  sacrifice.  Once  again  Christ 
was  heard  to  say,  "  It  is  finished."  Then  with  a  loud  voice,  he  cried, 
"Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  He  bowed  his  head 
and  died.  He  gave  up  his  spirit,  bruised  and  tormented,  and  poured 
out  unto  death,  into  his  Father's  hands. 


CHAPTER  VIII.— IN  THE  GRAVE. 


last 


T  THE  third  hour,  when  Jesus  was  dying  on 
Calvary,  the  priest  was  offering  up  incense  in 
the  holy  place  of  the  temple.  All  the  congrega- 
tion, and  the  sacrificing  priest  in  the  outer  court, 
were  waiting  for  him  to  reappear.  Suddenly  an 
earthquake  shook  both  the  temple  mount  and 
the  whole  city  of  Jerusalem.  The  veil,  which 
separated  the  holy  place  from  the  holiest  of  holies, 
was  rent  in  two,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  laying 
open  the  sacred  spot,  which  none  ever  entered  except 
the  high  priest  on  the  Day  of  Atonement. 
On  Calvary,  those  who  had  gathered  to  see  the  sight  were  at 
terrified,  and  returned  to  the  city,  smiting,  upon  their  breasts. 
The  centurion  in  command  of  the  Roman  soldiers,  who  had  probably 
watched  and  listened  to  the  dying  prophet  with  interest,  was  struck 
with  fear,  and  said,  "Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God  1" 

But  before  sunset,  the  Pharisees,  always  very  scrupulous  not  to 
break  the  law,  came  to  Pilate,  and  besought  him  that  all  three  of 
those  who  were  being  crucified  should  be  put  to  death  at  once, 
because  the  next  day  was  a  Sabbath,  and  their  bodies  ought  not  to 
be  hanging  on  the  crosses  on  the  Sabbath  day.  The  soldiers  were 
ordered  to  despatch  the  dying  men  by  breaking  their  legs ;  but  when 
they  came  to  Jesus,  and  found  that  he  was  dead  already,  they  refrained 
from  mutilating  his  body;  yet,  lest  any  spark  of  life  lingered  which 
might  be  fanned  into  a  flame,  one  of  t-liem  pierced  his  side  with  a 
spear.     Thus  they  made  sure  that  he  was  dead. 

In  the  meantime  another  applicant  had  gone  to  Pilate.  This  was 
Joseph  of  Arimathea,  a  well-known  man,  rich,  honorable,  and  good 
one  of  the  Sanhedrim  itself,  though  he  had  not  consented  to  the  death 
of  Christ.     He  was  a  timid  man,  and  a  secret  disciple;  but  shocked 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


183 


by  the  deeds  of  his  fellow-councillors,  he  went  boldly  in  to  Pilate,  and 
begged  that  he  might  take  away  the  body  of  Jesus.  Pilate  marvelled 
whether  he  were  yet  dead,  and  called  the  centurion  to  ask  him  if  it 
were  so.  He  then  willingly  granted  the  body  to  Joseph,  who  had 
already  provided  himself  with  fine  linen  for  the  entombment.  When 
he  returned  to  Calvary, 
Nicodemus  accompanied  ^^^Sl 
him,  bringing  a  large  quan- 
tity of  spices.  The  women 
from  Galilee  were  lingering 
about  the  place ;  and  now,  in 
the  cool  and  gloom  of  the 
evening,  they  took  the  body 
down  from  the  cross,  and 
wrapped  it,  with  the  spices 
scattered  amid  the  folds,  in 
the  linen  cloth.  Close  by 
was  a  garden  belonging  to 
Joseph,  and  in  it  a  new 
tomb,  which  he  had  hewn 
for  himself  in  the  midst  of 
his  garden.  No  man  had 
ever  lain  in  it.  No  taint  of 
death  polluted  it.  Here 
they  buried  their  Lord 
hastily,  for  the  Sabbath  was 
near.  Mary  Cleophas  and 
Mary  Magdalene  sat  close 
by,  watching,  but  perhaps 
too  overcome  with  grief  to 
give  any  active  assistance.  The  women  from  Galilee  also  saw  the 
sepulchre,  and  how  his  body  was  lain.  Then  all  of  them  returned  to 
the  city,  to  prepare  spices  and  ointments  for  the  embalming  of  the 
corpse  as  soon  as  the  Sabbath  was  over.  • 
The  enemies  of  Christ  had  not  been  prepared  for  this  honorable 


THE   VEIL   OF   THE   TEMPLE   RENT. 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


burial  of  their  victim.      If  Joseph  of  Arimathea  had  not  interfered,  his 
body  would  have  been  carried  away  from  Calvary,  with  those  of  the 


THE    DESCEXT    EKuAl    THE   CROSS. 


thieves,  and  carelessly  laid  in  a  common  grave,  where  criminals,  who 
had  died  a  shameful  death,  were  flung  together.  The  followers  of 
Jc^us,  poor  obscure  Galileans,  coukl  not  ha\'e  had  influence  enough 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE  1S5 

to  save  the  corpse  from  this  degrading  fate.  But  the  Sanhedrim 
found  that  two  of  their  own  chief  men,  startled  by  their  fierceness  and 
injustice  into  open  discipleship,  had  interposed  promptly  to  claim  the 
body  of  their  Lord,  and  to  lay  it  in  the  new  tomb  of  a  rich  man, 
amidst  the  cool  and  quiet  fragrance  of  a  garden,  where  those  who 
loved  him  might  visit  his  resting-place  unnoticed  and  unmolested. 

The  Sabbath  was  come ;  a  high  day.  The  Sabbath  of  the  passover 
was  no  doubt  the  most  important  of  all  the  weekly  Sabbaths  in  the 
year.  The  immense  multitudes  that  thronged  Jerusalem,  and  dwelt 
even  in  tents  outside  the  walls,  because  there  was  not  room  enough 
in  the  city,  filled  the  temple  courts,  and  crowded  into  the  synagogues. 
Sabbath  days  were  especially  days  of  feasting  and  rejoicing  with  the 
Jews ;  friends  met  together ;  no  work  at  all  was  done ;  both  men  and 
women  were  dressed  in  their  best  apparel,  and  desired  to  see  and  to 
be  seen.  Probably,  too,  this  Sabbath  fell  upon  the  day  for  waving  the 
first-fruits  before  Jehovah.  At  the  hour  when  Christ  was  buried,  a 
sheaf  of  standing  corn  had  been  reaped,  with  special  rites  for  the 
purpose,  in  a  field  near  Jerusalem;  and  possibly  this  ceremony  had 
been  one  reason  why  Joseph  and  Nicodemus  had  been  left  undisturbed 
in  their  burial  of  the  body. 

How  the  friends  of  Jesus  passed  this  mournful  day  we  can  only 
faintly  imagine.  Whether  there  was  any  brighter  hope,  or  more 
perfect  understanding,  in  Mary's  mind  of  what  was  to  follow,  we  do 
not  know.  But  the  rest  were  insensible  to  every  consolation ;  they 
forgot  altogether  the  words  Jesus  had  spoken  to  them  about  rising 
again.  They  had  so  long  refused  to  believe  that  he  would  give 
himself  up  to  death  that  now  they  were  too  stunned  to  remember  that 
he  had  promised  to  return  to  them. 

But  Christ's  enemies  did  not  forget  this.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
Sabbath  the  chief  priests  and  leading  Pharisees  came  together  to 
Pilate.  One  tremor  had  seized  upon  them  in  their  hour  of  triumph. 
"  Sir,  we  remember,"  they  said,  "  that  that  deceiver  said,  while  he  was 
yet  alive.  After  three  days  I  will  rise  again.  Command,  therefore,  that 
the  sepulchre  be  made  sure  until  the  third  day,  lest  his  disciples  come 
by  night  and  steal  him  away,  and  say  unto  the  people.  He  is  risen 


i86  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

from  the  dead :  so  the  last  error  shall  be  worse  than  the  first."  Pilate 
cared  little  for  any  error,  but  he  could  not  afford  to  offend  the  chief 
priests.  "  Ye  have  a  watch,"  he  answered,  "  go  your  way,  make  it  as 
sure  as  ye  can."  The  watch  consisted  of  Roman  soldiers,  not  of  the 
temple  guard,  who,  as  Jews,  could  not  touch  a  sepulchre  without  being 
defiled.  The  soldiers  made  the  sepulchre  sure,  sealing  the  stone  ;  and 
when  the  watch  was  set,  the  priests  and  Pharisees  went  their  way, 
satisfied  that  no  second  error  could  arise  to  deceive  the  people.  It 
was  the  Sabbath,  and  therefore  it  was  unlawful  to  touch  the  dead,  or 
they  might  have  removed  the  body  to  the  common  grave  of  executed 
criminals. 

No  doubt  there  must  have  been  much  discussion  that  day  through- 
out Jerusalem.  None  of  these  things  which  had  come  to  pass  were 
done  in  a  corner,  in  some  remote  place  in  Galilee,  but  in  the  holy  city 
itself,  during  the  passover  week.  Jesus  was  well  known  as  a  prophet 
of  the  most  blameless  life.  Every  one  had  heard  before,  or  heard 
then,  of  Lazarus,  who  was  probably  hiding  from  the  malice  of  the 
chief  priests  and  Pharisees.  Rumors  would  run  along,  from  one  to 
another,  of  the  indecent  haste  with  which  the  execution  had  been 
hurried  on.  The  bargain  with  the  traitor  would  be  whispered  about; 
the  midnight  arrest  in  Gethsemane ;  the  meeting  of  the  Sanhedrim, 
not  in  the  temple,  but  in  the  high-priest's  palace :  the  early  and  hasty 
trial  before  Pilate,  and  the  swift  execution  of  the  sentence :  all  these 
would  be  discussed  passionately  in  favor  of,  or  against  Christ,  during 
the  leisure  of  that  Sabbath.  Thousands  among  them  were  disap- 
pointed. Those  who  were  not  the  professed  followers  of  Jesus  had 
been  ready  to  follow  him,  if  he  would  but  make  himself  intelligible  to 
them.  They  were  longing  for  a  Messiah ;  and  if  he  had  been  such  a 
Messiah  as  they  expected,  and  could  understand,  they  would  have 
joyfully  flocked  under  his  banner,  and  fought  for  his  kingdom.  But 
he,  who  might  have  been  dwelling  in  regal  splendor  under  the  roof 
of  the  royal  palace,  had  been  hung  upon  a  shameful  cross  between 
two  thieves.  They  had  seen  the  end  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth — a  bitter, 
ignominious  death.  Was  he  not,  then,  what  the  chief  rulers  of  the 
people  called  him,  a  deceiver  ? 


CHAPTER   IX.— THE   SEPULCHRE. 

N  FRIDAY  evening,  while  Joseph  and  Nico- 
demus  were  laying  the  body  of  the  Lord  in 
the  grave,  his  aunt,  Mary  Cleophas,  and  Mary 
of  Magdala  were  sitting  over  against  the 
sepulchre,  watching.  The  other  women  from 
Galilee  also  saw  the  place  where  he  was  laid. 
Probably  they  all  returned  to  the  city  together, 
to  buy  spices  and  ointments  for  the  embalming ; 
and  before  they  separated  made  arrangements  for 
meeting  again  early,  after  the  Sabbath  was  ended.  As 
nothing  could  be  done  before  daybreak,  we  may  easily  conjecture 
that  they  agreed  to  meet  soon  after  the  dawn,  either  in  the  garden 
itself,  or  by  the  city  gate  nearest  to  it. 

But  upon  Sunday  morning,  whilst  it  was  yet  dark,  over-early  or 
before  the  appointed  time,  Mary  Magdalene  and  Mary  Cleophas, 
restless  in  their  sorrow,  started  off  to  see  the  sepulchre  beforehand. 
On  their  way  they  were  joined  by  Salome,  the  mother  of  John, 
who  was  probably  staying  in  the  same  house  as  Mary,  the  mother 
of  Jesus.  They  had  bought  sweet  spices,  but  the  other  women 
were  to  bring  them  to  the  sepulchre.  No  light  yet  shone  in  the 
sky,  except  the  first  faint  gray  of  the  morning  in  the  east.  But 
possibly  they  may  have  seen  a  sudden  light  gleaming  in  the  direction 
of  the  garden,  and  felt  the  shock  of  an  earthquake,  like  that  which 
had  rent  the  rocks  on  Friday.  If  so,  they  would  naturally  pause  foi 
a  while,  terrified ;  yet,  when  all  was  calm  again,  and  the  quiet  dawn 
grew  stronger,  waking  up  the  birds,  whose  twittering  was  the  only 
sound  to  be  heard,  they  would  go  on,  though  troubled  and  trembling, 
to  the  sepulchre. 

But  what  had  caused  the  shock  of  earthquake  ?  The  Roman 
guard,  possibly  the  same   that   had   watched  under  the  cross,  and 

1S7 


1 88  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

divided  the  Lord's  garments  among  them,  were  aheady  looking 
forward  to  being  relieved  from  their  watch,  when  they  saw  an  angel, 
whose  face  was  like  lightning,  descend  from  the  dark  heavens  above 
them,  and  they  felt  the  earth  quake  and  tremble  beneath  their  feet. 
He  rolled  back  the  stone  from  the  sepulchre  they  were  guarding:  and 
for  fear  of  him  they  became  as  dead  men.  They  saw  nothing  else 
than  the  bright,  awful  face  and  the  glistening  whiteness  of  the  form 
that  sat  on  the  stone  near  them.  They  did  not  see  Christ  quit  his 
tomb. 

By  the  time  the  two  Marys  and  Salome  reached  the  garden,  the 
dawn  was  light  enough  for  them  to  see  objects  at  some  distance. 
They  do  not  seem  to  have  known  of  the  guard  being  set  to  watch  the 
grave ;  for  their  talk  was  only  of  the  difficulty  of  removing  the  large 
stone  which  filled  the  opening  of  the  cave.  Probably  their  special 
purpose  in  coming  to  view  the  sepulchre  was  to  ascertain  whether  the 
woman  alone  could  roll  it  away,  and  effect  an  entrance  without  aid. 
On  Friday  evening,  in  the  twilight,  and  overwhelmed  as  they  were 
with  grief,  they  had  not  sufficiently  noticed  this  difficulty.  Now,  as 
they  drew  near,  what  was  their  amazement  and  dismay  to  see  the 
stone  already  removed,  and  the  cave  open ! 

Their  fears  sprang  to  one  conclusion,  and  only  one.  The  beloved 
body  of  their  Lord  had  been  violently  taken  away — stolen  by  his 
implacable  enemies — during  the  night.  It  had  been  still  further 
degraded  and  dishonored  by  being  cast  into  the  common  grave  of 
criminals.  Mary  Magdalene,  leaving  the  other  Mary  and  Salome,  fled 
back  into  the  city  to  seek  Peter  and  John,  and  arouse  them  to  help,  if 
help  were  not  too  late.  Very  probably  these  two  disciples  were 
lodging  in  the  same  house;  for  at  the  time  of  the  feasts  every 
dwelling  in  Jerusalem  was  crowded  with  guests.  "  They  have  taken 
away  the  Lord,"  cried  Mary,  when  she  found  them,  "  and  we  know  not 
where  they  have  laid  him." 

In  the  meantime  Mary  Cleophas  and  Salome  went  on  to  the 
sepulchre.  They  v/ere  women  past  middle  life,  with  the  calmness  and 
passiveness  of  years  and  sorrows,  and  they  did  not  shrink  from 
entering   into    the   sepulchre.     They  had  set   out,  indeed,  with   the 


Pi     f  '1  rt 

'  I.     '.I      I, ...  I  .il'..ll. 


' "  m 


CHR(ST  BEARING  HIS  CROSS. 

•And  He  Bearing  His  Cross  went  Forth  into  a  Place  called  the  Place  of  a 
Skull." — John  19  :  17. 


CHRIST  CRUCIFIED. 

"And  Jesus  said.  Father,  forgive  Them  ;  for  They  Know  not  what  They  no." — I-uVe  23  :  34. 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  189 

intention  of  preparing  the  body  for  a  second  burial.  But  there 
was  no  lifeless  corpse  there.  They  were  affrighted,  however,  by 
seeing  an  angel,  clothed  in  white,  sitting  on  the  right  side.  "  Fear 
not,"  he  said  to  them,  "for  I  know  that  ye  seek  Jesus,  who  was 
crucified.  He  is  not  here;  he  is  arisen.  Come,  see  the  place  where 
the  Lord  lay.  And  go  quickly,  and  tell  his  disciples  and  Peter  that 
he  is  risen  from  the  dead;  and  behold,  he  goeth  before  you  into 
Galilee ;  there  shall  ye  see  him,  as  he  said  unto  you.  Lo,  I  have  told 
you."  Salome  and  Mary  Cleophas  fled  from  the  sepulchre  trembling 
and  amazed;  and  probably  passing  by  John  and  Peter  in  their 
bewilderment,  they  said  nothing  to  them  about  what  they  had  seen,  but 
went  on  into  the  city,  in  fear  and  great  joy,  to  bring  the  disciples  word- 
Now,  when  they  were  going,  some,  but  not  all,  of  the  Roman 
guard  hastened  to  the  chief  priests,  and  told  them  what  had  come  to 
pass.  A  council  was  immediately  summoned ;  and,  after  much 
discussion,  they  seem  to  have  persuaded  themselves  that  the  soldiers 
had  been  sleeping,  and  that,  as  they  slept,  the  disciples  had  stolen 
away  the  body.  The  guard  owned  to  having  been  like  dead  men 
from  fright;  and  none  of  them  professed  to  have  seen  Jesus  leave  the 
grave.  The  council  gave  them  large  sums  of  money  to  spread  about 
this  report,  which  they  did  so  successfully,  that  those  who  thought 
better  of  the  testimony  of  two  or  three  heathen  soldiers  than  of  that 
of  hundreds  of  their  own  countrymen,  who  had  nothing  to  gain  but 
everything  to  lose  by  their  testimony,  believed  the  saying,  and 
commonly  reported  it  as  a  fact. 

Very  shortly  after  Salome  and  Mary  Cleophas  left  the  grave, 
John  and  Peter  reached  it.  John  had  outrun  Peter,  but  with  the 
sensitive  shrinking  of  a  young  nature,  unused  to  death,  he  did 
not  go  in.  Stooping  down,  he  saw  the  linen  clothes,  that  fine  linen 
Joseph  had  prepared,  lying  on  the  floor  of  the  cave.  It  was  quite 
evident  his  Master  was  not  there.  But  Peter,  coming  up,  stepped  at 
once  into  the  sepulchre,  to  look  round  it.  There  was  no  sign  of  haste 
or  violence,  as  there  must  have  been  if  a  band  of  rough  foes  had 
trampled  in  to  steal  away  the  body.  The  fair  linen  cloth  was 
unsoiled,  and  the  napkin  that  had  been  bound  about  the  worn  and 


I  go  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

anguished  face  had  been  wrapped  together,  as  if  his  mother's  gentle 
hands  had  folded  it  up  tenderly,  and  laid  it  aside  by  itself  There 
was  nothing  terrifying  about  the  quiet,  empty  tomb ;  and  John,  with 
all  his  sensitive  love  for  his  Lord,  might  enter  and  feel  no  shock.  He 
also  went  in,  and  looking  round,  felt  a  gleam  of  faith,  like  the  dawn  of 
a  new  and  splendid  day,  breaking  upon  him.  But  they  could  not 
linger  in  the  empty  grave.  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  ought  to  hear 
these  strange  tidings ;  and  they  went  away  to  tell  her. 

Now,  Mary  Magdalene  stood  without,  at  the  door  of  the  cave, 
weeping.  Like  John,  she  did  not  venture  to  go  in.  She  was  alone ; 
Peter  and  John  were  gone,  and  the  other  women  were  not  yet  come. 
The  garden  was  a  solitude.  Nothing  had  occurred  to  deliver  her  from 
her  agonizing  fears.  To  her  it  was  her  Lord,  not  his  body  merely,  that 
they  had  taken  away.  The  hurried  departure  of  Peter  and  John,  and 
the  absence  of  Salome  and  Mary  Cleophas,  must  have  confirmed  her 
suspicions.  She  stooped  down,  as  John  had  done,  to  look  at  the  place 
where  he  had  lain.  There  was  the  spot  where  his  thorn-crowned  head 
had  been  pillowed,  and  his  pierced  feet  had  rested.  But  the  grave 
was  no  longer  empty.  At  the  feet,  and  the  head,  where  the  body  of 
Jesus  had  lain,  sat  two  angels,  bending  over  the  place,  as  if  still 
watching  him,  just  as  she  would  have  sat  and  watched  him  if  she 
might  but  have  stayed  beside  him,  even  in  the  sepulchre.  The  angels 
neither  astonished  nor  affrighted  her;  she  was  too  engrossed  in  her 
sorrow.  "  Woman,  why  weepest  thou  ?  "  they  asked.  She  answered 
them  without  fear — the  only  human  being  who  has  spoken  to  angels 
with  no  tremor — "  Because  they  have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  know 
not  where  they  have  laid  him."  She  even  turned  away  from  them, 
as  from  those  who  could  sfive  her  no  comfort,  while  her  Lord  was  lost 
Dimly  through  her  tears  she  saw  some  one  standing  near  her,  and 
heard  the  same  question,  "  Woman,  why  weepest  thou  ?  Whom 
seekest  thou  ?  "  These  last  words  gave  her  the  idea  that  it  must  be 
the  gardener,  who  would  know  all  that  had  taken  place  in  the  garden 
under  his  care.  "  Sir,"  she  cried,  "  if  thou  have  borne  him  hence,  tell 
me  where  thou  hast  laid  him,  that  I  may  take  him  away."  She  had 
but  one  thought  in  her  mind  :  where  was  her  Lord  ? 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  19 1 

"  Mary,"  said  the  voice  behind  her — a  familiar  voice ;  and  she  turned 
quickly,  crying  gladly,  passionately,  "  Rabboni !  "  He  called  her  from 
the  abyss  of  despair  to  a  rapture  of  joy  beyond  words.  She  sprang 
toward  him  to  touch  him,  to  make  sure  that  it  was  he  himself  whom 
she  had  seen  die  upon  the  cross.  In  a  moment  she  was  back  again 
to  the  happy  hours  in  Galilee,  when  she  had  ministered  unto  him, 
before  all  this  agony  came.  As  before,  one  thought  alone  possessed 
her  soul.  Here  was  her  Master,  he  who  had  saved  her  in  the  old  bad 
days. 

But  Christ  was  not  the  same.  A  solemn  change  had  passed  ovei 
him,  which  must  alter  all  his  relations  with  his  old  friends.  She  was 
too  excited  to  feel  this ;  but  his  first  words  arrested  her.  "  Touch  me 
not,"  he  said ;  possibly  meaning,  "  Stay  not  to  touch  me  now,  for  I  am 
not  yet  ascending  unto  my  Father ;  but  go  to  my  brethren,  and  say 
unto  them,  I  ascend  unto  my  Father,  and  your  Father ;  unto  my  God, 
and  your  God."  He  was  their  elder  brother,  who  could  remain  with 
them  but  a  little  while,  and  then  they  would  see  him  no  more,  but  he 
would  represent  them  in  the  Father's  house,  where  he  was  going  to 
prepare  a  place  for  them.  Mary  knew  she  also  should  see  him  again ; 
and  when  he  vanished  out  of  her  sight,  she  stayed  not  a  moment 
longer  at  the  sepulchre,  but  went  to  tell  them  she  had  seen  the 
Lord. 

All  these  circumstances  had  followed  one  another  rapidly ;  and  it 
may  be  that  the  women  who  were  to  bring  the  spices  and  ointments 
had  been  delayed,  or  perhaps  had  waited  some  little  time  for  Salome 
and  the  two  Marys  at  the  appointed  place  of  meeting.  Joanna,  the 
wife  of  Herod's  steward,  was  the  chief  person  among  them,  as  the 
woman  of  greatest  wealth  and  rank.  They  were  not  at  all  surprised  at 
finding  the  stone  rolled  back  from  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  supposing'* 
that  it  had  been  done  on  purpose  for  them.  But  they  found  the  body 
they  had  come  to  embalm  taken  away.  This  very  much  perplexed 
them ;  though  they  were  not  afraid  until  they  saw  two  men  standing 
by  them,  in  shining  garments.  So  terrified  were  they,  that  they  bowed 
their  faces  to  the  earth  before  them.  The  angels  said  to  them,  as  if 
marvelling  at  these  repeated  visits  to  the  grave,  "Why  seek  ye  the 


ig2  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

living  svmong  the  dead  ?  He  is  not  here,  but  is  risen ;  remember  how 
he  spal  e  unto  you  when  he  was  yet  in  Galilee,  saying,  '  The  Son  of 
man  m  ast  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinful  men,  and  be  crucified^ 
and  th(  third  day  rise  again.*"  Then  the  women  remembered  these 
words,  wondering  at  their  own  forgetfulness.  They  returned  at  onct 
to  the  city ;  and  as  they  were  not  likely  to  single  out  Peter  or  John,  as 
Mary  Magdalene  had  done,  to  be  the  first  hearers  of  their  tidings,  they 
went  quickly  to  some  common  place  of  meeting  among  the  disciples, 
and  shere  found  a  large  party  assembled,  which  had  been  probably 
tailed  together  by  Peter,  to  hear  that  the  body  of  the  Lord  was  gone, 
no  one  knew  whither.  The  women  told  the  vision  they  had  seen ;  but 
the  disciples  could  not  believe  them,  and  their  words  seemed  as  idle 
tales.  Peter,  however,  hearing  of  the  appearance  of  angels,  arose,  and 
ran  again  to  the  sepulchre  for  the  second  time ;  but  stooping  down,  he 
saw  no  such  vision,  only  the  linen  clothes  laid  as  he  had  seen  them 
before.  He  returned  to  the  assembly  of  the  disciples,  full  of  wonder 
at  what  had  come  to  pass. 

It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  Mary  Magdalene,  who  had  hastened  to 
John's  house  when  she  knew  the  grave  was  open,  would  also  go  there 
after  she  had  seen  Christ.  Mary,  his  mother,  would  thus  hear  first  of 
the  appearance  of  her  Son.  Finding  there  that  Peter  and  John  had 
left  to  call  together  the  disciples  at  some  appointed  place,  Mary 
Magdalene  followed  them;  and  soon  after  Joanna  and  the  women 
from  Galilee  had  told  of  their  vision  of  angels,  she  entered  to  relate 
the  appearance  of  the  Lord  himself  to  her  in  the  garden.  She  had 
even  a  message  to  deliver  to  them.  But  the  incredulous  and 
bewildered  disciples  could  not  believe  her,  and  probably  said 
among  themselves  that  grief  had  distracted  her  mind.  When 
Peter  returned  from  the  sepulchre,  having  seen  nothing,  this 
conviction  would  naturally  be  deepened. 

But  presently  Mary  Cleophas  and  Salome,  the  aunt  of  Jesus,  and 
the  mother  of  James  and  John,  women  not  likely  to  be  deceived,  or 
to  mistake  a  stranger  for  their  Lord,  came  in  with  another  account  of 
having  seen  him,  and  of  receiving  a  message  from  him  for  his 
brethren.     But  still   the    incredulous   disciples   refused   to    believe 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE  193 

Mar>'  Magdalene  owned  that  she  had  not  touched  Jesus,  had  indeed 
een  forbidden  to  touch  him ;  but  these  two  women  declared  that  they 
^ad  not  only  met  him,  but  that  when  they  heard  his  greeting,  they  had 
alien  down  to  worship  him,  being  afraid,  and  had  held  him  by  h' 
'eet.  "  Be  not  afraid,"  he  had  said,  "  go,  tell  my  brethren  that  they  g^. 
nto  Galilee,  and  there  shall  they  see  me." 

There  was  this  excuse  for  the  unbelief  of  his  disciples  that  as  yet 
the  only  manifestations,  either  of  angels  or  of  the  Lord  himself,  had 
been  to  women,  who  are  always  more  excited,  and  more  open  to 
superstitious  fancies,  in  hours  of  sorrow,  than  men  are  The  simple 
facts,  as  known  to  the  disciples,  were,  that  the  sepulchre  was  open  at 
iaybreak,  and  the  body  of  their  Master  missing  Who  had  broken 
?pen  the  grave  they  could  not  tell ;  but  their  suspicion  must  have 
i.-.een  that  some  enemy  had  done  it 

The   news   spread   rapidly  throughout  Jerusalem,  and    no   doubt 
crowds  of  curious  spectators  flocked  to  the  garden  to  see  the  open 
tomb       Among    them    the    partisans   of    the   Sanhedrim    diligently 
spread  the  report  that  the  body  was  stolen  away  by  the  disciples, 
while    the   guard   slept.      It   would   be   no   longer   prudent   for   the 
veil-known   followers  of  Jesus  to  be  seen  near  Calvary  and  Geth 
-emane,  but  those  who  were  less  marked  among  his  friends  probabl) 
Timgled  with  the  throng,  and  from  time  to  time  brought  tidings  to 
ihe  assembly  of  disciples  of  what  was  going  on      The  hours  wort 
away,  and  still  they  were  in  perplexity  and  unbelief     Three  women 
only  had  seen  him ;  one  of  these  had  not  touched  him,  and  the  othe? 
two   had   been   so   bewildered   and  amazed,  as   to  have  kept  the: 
interview  with  him  to  themselves,  until  after  Mary  Magdalene  ha 
eiven  her  account. 


CHAPTER    X— EMMAUS. 


HEN  the  disciples  were  first  called  together 
by  Peter  and  John,  there  were  among  them 
two  friends,  one  of  whom  was  named 
■  Clecphas,  not  the  husband  of  Mary,  but 
probably  a  native  of  Emmaus,  a  village 
about  nine  miles  from  the  city  They 
were  present  when  the  party  of  Galilean 
women,  with  Joanna,  came  to  tell  of  seeing 
two  angels  in  the  sepulchre.  Possibly  they 
^  went  with  Peter,  when  he  ran  a  second 
time  to  the  grave ;  but  they  did  not  return 
with  him,  as  they  did  not  hear  the  statement 
of  Maiy  Magdalene,  or  of  Salome  and  Mary  Cleophas,  Very 
likely  they  lingered  about  the  garden  among  the  crowd,  listening  to 
the  various  guesses  and  rumors  concerning  the  strange  event,  until  it 
was  time  to  start  on  their  long  walk  homeward.  Calvary  lay  north 
or  northeast  of  the  city  walls,  and  Emmaus  to  the  east ;  there  was 
no  need  therefore  for  them  to  return  through  the  busy  streets,  where 
they  might  have  heard  that  their  risen  Lord  had  appeared  to,  not  one, 
but  three  of  the  women,  who  had  loved  him  so  faithfully,  and 
tiinistered  to  him  so  long^.  Sad,  thouQ-h  it  was  a  feast  time,  when 
joyousness  was  a  duty,  these  men  might  well  be. 

It  is  a  toilsome  road,  and  the  afternoon  sun  beat  hot  upon  them 
But  they  heeded  neither  the  heat  of  the  sun  nor  the  roughness  of  the 
road.  They  were  reasoning  and  pondering  over  the  events  that  had 
followed  quickly  upon  one  another,  since  they  had  entered  Jerusalem 
to  eat  the  feast  of  the  passover.  There  had  been  the  betrayal,  the 
arrest  the  mock  trial  before  the  Sanhedrim,  the  real  trial  before  Pilate, 
the  <?coiiryin5J.  the  cnjcifixion    the  darkness  at  noonday,  and  earth- 


THE  WONDERFUI  LIFE.  195 

quake,  all  hurried  one  upon  another.  They  might  iirell  be  sad  and 
downcast  as  they  communed  about  these  things. 

Presently  a  stranger,  journeying  the  same  toilsome  road,  drew  near 
and  asked  them  how  it  was  they  could  be  thus  sorrowful  during  the 
feast.  Cleophas  answered  him,  "Art  thou  only  a  stranger  in  Jerusa- 
lem, and  hast  not  knov  n  the  things  that  are  come  to  pass  there  in 
these  days  ?  "  All  Jerusalem  was  busy  about  them,  and  this  stranger, 
who  seemed  to  be  coming  from  the  city,  might  surely  guess  what  they 
were  talking  about  Yet  he  said,  "What  things?"  And  now 
Cleophas.  concluding  that  he  was  indeed  a  stranger,  told  him  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  the  mighty  prophet,  who  had  been  condemned  to  death 
by  the  Great  Sanhedrim,  their  rulers.  "But  we  trusted,"  he  went  on, 
sorrowfully,  "  that  it  had  been  he  that  should  have  redeemed  Israel." 
Then  he  narrated  how  certain  women  had  astonished  them  that 
morning,  who  did  not  find  his  body  in  the  sepulchre,  but  came  say- 
ing they  had  seen  a  vision  of  angels,  who  said  that  he  was  alive. 
"  But  him  they  saw  not,"  added  Cleophas  to  the  stranger  walking  at 
his  side. 

"O  foolish  men!"  he  answered  gently,  "and  slow  of  heart  to 
believe  all  that  the  prophets  have  spoken !  Ought  not  Christ  to  have 
suffered  these  things,  and  to  enter  into  his  glory?"  They,  like  all 
other  Jews,  were  well  versed  in  the  writings  of  Moses  and  the 
prophets ;  but  as  this  stranger  explained  to  them  passages  perfectly 
familiar  to  them,  they  stood  out  in  a  new  light,  with  deeper  meaning 
than  any  they  had  had  before.  Their  hearts,  slow  to  believe,  burned 
within  them.  Was  it,  then,  true  that  Jesus  was  that  Holy  One  whose 
!  oul  should  not  be  left  in  hell,  nor  his  flesh  see  corruption  ?  The 
long  road  seemed  short ;  the  rocky  path  no  longer  rugged  to  their 
feet;  the  heat  of  the  sun  was  unfelt.  How  fast  the  time  fled  I  How 
quickly  Emmaus  was  seen  on  its  hill  before  them  ?  Who  could  this 
stranger  be,  so  wise  and  gracious,  whom  they  loved  already,  and 
could  listen  to  unweariedly,  almost  as  if  he  were  the  Lord  himself? 

They  were  close  to  the  village  now,  and  the  day  was  far  spent.  He 
made  as  though  he  would  have  gone  further;  but  they  could  not  part 
with  him  yet.  stranger  though  he  was.     "Abide  with  us,"  said  both  of 


ig6  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

them;  and  he  went  in  to  tarry  with  them,  as  they  hoped,  until  the 
morning.  He  had  charmed  away  their  sadness,  and  taught  them 
what  they  had  never  known  before.  How  gladly  would  they  minister 
to  this  new  friend  ?  When  they  sat  down  to  supper  they  set  him  in 
the  most  honorable  place,  to  preside  over  their  evening  meal.  He 
took  bread,  blessing  and  breaking  it  with  some  words  or  gesture 
peculiar  to  Christ,  and  gave  it  to  them,  as  he  had  been  wont  to  do 
when  he  sat  at  meat  with  his  disciples.  Now  their  eyes  were  no 
longer  holden  that  they  should  not  know  him.  It  was  he  himself; 
their  crucified  and  risen  Lord.  For  one  brief,  glad  moment  they  saw 
his  beloved  face,  and  the  pierced  hands,  which  had  given  to  them  the 
bread.  Then  he  vanished  out  of  their  sight ;  but  this  was  yet  another 
proof  to  them  that  it  was  indeed  the  Lord. 

At  once  they  rose  up  to  return  to  Jerusalem,  thinking  nothing  of 
the  long  walk  and  the  coming  night,  when  they  had  such  tidings  to 
carry  to  the  disciples,  and  the  mother  and  kinsmen  of  Christ.  It 
must  have  been  late  when  they  reached  the  city,  but  they  found  ten 
of  the  apostles,  with  a  number  of  the  disciples,  gathered  together, 
though  with  closed  doors,  and  precautions  taken,  for  fear  of  the 
Pharisees.  Who  was  there  ?  The  women  probably,  Lazarus  from 
Bethany,  Nicodemus,  perhaps,  and  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  whose 
garden  had  been  trampled  by  so  many  feet  that  day.  There  was 
great  agitation  among  them  still.  Had  the  body  of  Jesus  been  stolen 
away  from  the  grave  ?  Was  it  not  his  spirit  only  which  had  been 
seen  by  the  women  ?  Even  Peter,  who  had  also  now  seen  the  Lord, 
the  apostle  who  denied  him  being  the  first  to  whom  he  revealed 
himself;  Peter  could  hardly  believe  that  it  was  his  Master,  and  not  a 
spirit.  Yet  when  the  two  disciples  from  Emmaus  entered,  they  were 
met  by  the  cry,  "  The  Lord  has  arisen  indeed,  and  appeared  unto 
Simon."  But  Cleophas  and  his  companion  had  something  more  to 
tell  of  than  a  mere  brief  appearance.  They  described  the  stranger 
joining  them,  and  walking  mile  after  mile  with  them,  conversing  all 
the  while  familiarly ;  how  he  went  in  to  tarry  with  them,  and  sat  down 
to  meat,  and  was  known  to  them  in  the  breaking  of  bread.  This  the 
disciples  could  not  believe.     Cleophas  and  his  friend  do  not  seem  to 


THE  ENTOMBMENT  OF  CHRIST. -John  19:  42. 


CHRIST  APPEARING  TO  MARY. 
"Touch  mk  not;  for  I  am  not  yet  Ascended  to  my  Father."— John  20  :  17. 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE.  197 

have  been  very  renowned  followers  of  Jesus,  and  the  other  disciples 
were  hard  of  belief.  Those  among  them  who  had  seen  him  had  ca  ight 
out  brief  glimpses  of  him.  Mary  Magdalene  had  not  been  allowed 
to  touch  him ;  Salome  and  his  aunt  Mary  had  only  held  his  feet ,  to 
Peter  he  had  appeared  certainly,  but  not  in  this  homely  manner  as  a 
fellow-traveller  along  the  same  rough  way. 

They  were  still  speaking  incredulously  about  these  new  tidings, 
when  suddenly,  with  no  opening  of  the  fastened  doors,  and  no -sound 
of  entering,  they  saw  Jesus  himself  standing  in  the  midst  of  them, 
and  heard  his  voice,  saying,  "  Peace  be  unto  you."  But  they  were 
terrified  and  affrighted,  supposing  that  they  saw  a  spirit.  There  was 
none  bold  enough  to  try  to  touch  him,  and  no  one  dared  to  speaV 
With  great  gentleness  and  tenderness  he  reproached  them.  "  Behold 
my  hands  and  my  feet,"  he  said,  showing  them  the  print  of  the  nails ; 
"handle  me,  and  see.  It  is  I  myself  A  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and 
bones,  as  ye  see  me  have."  Their  terror  and  trouble  were  pacified, 
but  still  they  were  not  calm  enough  for  faith.  They  could  not  now 
believe  for  joy.  But  to  give  them  time  to  collect  themselves,  he  asked 
for  food,  as  once  before  he  had  commanded  something  to  eat  to  be 
given  to  the  ruler's  little  daughter,  when  he  called  her  back  from  the 
grave.  He  ate  before  them,  a  convincing  proof  that  he  was  no  spirit; 
and  then  he  was  seen  no  more  by  them.  But  there  was  no  room  for 
unbelief  among  them  now.  The  load  upon  their  hearts,  like  the  great 
stone  of  the  sepulchre,  was  rolled  away  foreven  Their  Lord  was 
arisen  indeed. 


CHAPTER  XL— IT  IS  THE  LORD. 

HOUGH  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees  carclully 
reported  that  the  disciples  had  stolen  the  body 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  they  took  no  steps  to  prove 
the  fact,  or  to  punish  the  violators  of  the  grave. 
The  whole  number  of  the  disciples  remained  in 
Jerusalem  during  the  feast,  and  the  Sabbath 
following  the  feast.  Even  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week  after  it,  when  the  bulk  of  the  Galileans  had 
i'fifwmi  lii^ir*^^  started  homeward,  the  eleven  apostles  still  lingered 
in  the  city.  Thomas,  who  had  vehemently  refused  to 
believe  in  the  resurrection  of  his  Master  because  he  had  not  seen  him, 
had  passed  the  week  in  alternate  mourning  and  disputing  with  those 
who  vainly  sought  to  convince  him.  He  saw  Mary,  the  mother  of 
Christ,  comforted,  and  full  of  gladness ;  his  fellow-disciples  rejoicing 
and  exultant ;  yet  to  all  they  urged  he  answered,  "  Except  I  shall  see 
in  his  hands  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  put  my  finger  into  the  print  of 
the  nails,  and  thrust  my  hand  into  his  side,  I  will  not  believe,"  It 
was  a  miserable  week  for  him,  for  he  was  deeply  attached  to  his 
crucified  Master,  and  timid  and  despondent  as  he  was,  he  had  once 
said,  "  Let  us  also  go,  that  we  may  die  with  him."  But  he  could  not 
be  persuaded  that  he  had  risen  from  the  dead. 

I  Eight  days  had  passed  since  Jesus  had  been  seen ;  and  the  eleven 
apostles  were  sitting  together,  the  doors  being  shut  for  fear  of  the 
Pharisees,  as  on  the  week  before,  when  once  more  he  stood  in  their 
midst,  with  no  sign  or  sound  of  coming,  and  said,  "  Peace  be  unto 
you."  Then  turning  to  Thomas,  and  speaking  directly  to  him,  he  added, 
"Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  behold  my  hands,  and  reach  hither  thy 
hand,  and  thrust  it  into  my  side,  and  be  not  faithless,  but  believing.'" 
But  he  did  not  now  need  the  evidence  he  had  demanded ;  it  was 
enough  to  see  his  Master,  and  hear  him  speak.  Jesus  wished  to  prove 
198 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE  199 

to  him  that  he  was  the  very  Son  of  man,  who  had  died  upon  the  cross* 
Thomas  cried,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God ! " 

The  apostles  no  longer  lingered  in  Jerusalem.  They  were  needed 
in  their  homes  in  Galilee,  and  it  was  safer  for  them  to  assemble  to- 
gether there,  where  the  chief  priests  had  less  power  than  in  Judaea, 
Moreover,  there  would  be  many  arrangements  to  make  for  their  families, 
before  they  could  set  out  on  those  missionary  journeys  which  soon 
scattered  them  into  far  countries.  They  scarcely  yet  knew  what  their 
Lord  would  have  them  to  do,  but  for  a  short  time  longer  they  were 
sent  to  dwell  in  their  own  homes,  among  their  own  people,  following 
their  old  trades  amid  familiar  scenes 

Seven  of  them  were  dwelling  near  Capernaum,  on  the  shores  of  the 
lake  where  they  had  earned  their  livelihood  by  fishing.  Peter  said  to 
his  comrades,  one  evening  after  their  return  from  Jerusalem,  "  I  go  a 
fishing."  Thomas  and  Nathanael,  James  and  John,  with  two  others, 
joined  him,  and,  entering  into  a  boat,  launched  out  upon  the  dark 
waters,  and  toiled  all  night,  but  came  back  to  the  land  with  empty  nets. 
In  the  cold  gray  of  the  morning  they  were  going  ashore,  disappointed 
and  hungry  men,  when  they  saw  on  the  dim  beach  a  man  standing  to 
watch  them.  It  was  still  too  dark  for  them  to  see  clearly.  "  Children, 
have  ye  any  meat?"  his  voice  called  across  the  water.  There  is 
nothing  unusual  in  such  a  question  from  a  bystander  who  has  been 
looking  on  while  men  are  fishing.  "  No,"  they  shouted  back ;  for  they 
were  still  some  distance  from  the  land.  "Cast  the  net  on  the  ri^ht 
side  of  the  boat,  and  ye  shall  find,"  was  the  advice  given.  He  might 
see  signs  of  fish  which  had  escaped  them;  and  they  obeyed,  feeling 
that  though  their  toil  had  been  in  vain  all  night,  one  chance  cast  of  the 
net  might  atone  for  their  want  of  success.  If  not,  they  could  but 
return  empty,  as  they  were  now  doing. 

While  they  cast  their  net  the  light  grew  stronger,  and  the  morning 
shone  upon  the  lake  and  shore,  upon  the  disciples  in  their  boat,  and 
the  solitary  stranger  looking  on.  But  soon  the  net  was  so  full  of  fish, 
that  they  could  not  draw  it ;  and  quickly  there  flashed  through  the 
mind  of  John  the  memory  of  that  morning,  when  Jesus  had  called 
them  to  leave  their  nets,  and  follow  him.     "  It  is  the  Lord,"  he  said  to 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


Peter. 

where 


There  he  stood  in  the  morning  light,  at  the  edge  of  the  waters 
they  were  fishing.     Possibly,  nay  probably,  there  was  already 

shining  about 
him  a  trans 
figuring  glory 
such  as  they 
had  witnessed 
on  the  moun- 
tain, when  his 
face  was  as  the 
sun,  and  his 
raiment  as 
white  as  the 
glistering 
snow,  Peter 
at  once  threw 
himself  into 
the  lake,  that 
he  might  the 
sooner  reach 
the  Master  he 
had  once  de- 
nied ;  and  the 
rest  followed 
in  their  boat, 
dragging  thei.^ 
net  with  then . 
Just  such  a 
reception  me! 
them  as  may 
have  wel- 
comed them 
often  in  the  old 
days,  when, 
No  doubt  theii 


MIKAiJJLuUS    DRAUGHT    OF    FISHES 


though  disciples,  they  still  had  to  earn  their  bread. 


THE  WONDERFUL  LIFE.  201 

Lord  had  often  ministered  to  them  before  he  washed  their  feet 
at  the  Last  Supper.  There  was  a  fire  already  kindled  on  the 
beach,  lit  for  them  whilst  they  were  toiling,  hungry  and  weary,  in 
the  darkness ;  and  fish  were  broiling  on  it,  and  cakes  of  bread  were 
baking  in  the  hot  ashes.  It  was  a  homely,  simple  welcome,  such  as 
one  of  themselves  might  have  prepared  for  his  comrades.  They  and 
their  Master  had  often  eaten  their  meals  together  thus  in  the  open  air, 
'beside  a  little  fire  on  the  ground.  "  Bring  of  the  fish  which  ye  have 
now  caught,"  said  Jesus  to  them ;  and  Peter  ran  and  drew  the  net  to 
land,  coimting  the  fish  as  he  took  them  out  of  the  unbroken  meshes. 
Presently  Jesus  said  to  them,  "  Come  and  dine."  But  none  of  them 
durst  say,  "Who  art  thou  ?"     They  were  silent  in  happy  awe. 

The  meal  was  ready,  and  they  hungry  with  their  night's  toil.  They 
were  at  home  on  the  shores  of  their  own  lake.  Every  hill,  every 
village,  every  landmark  about  them,  lying  clear  in  the  early  light,  was 
as  familiar  to  them  as  the  fax;es  of  old  friends.  The  freshness  of  the 
air  brought  to  them  the  scent  of  flowers  such  as  they  had  plucked  when 
children.  The  little  waves  of  the  lake  rippled  up  against  the  margin, 
chiming  as  it  had  done  to  them  when  they  were  boys.  The  larks  sang 
overhead,  and  the  waterfowl  cried  across  the  water.  How  different 
was  this  from  that  upper  chamber  in  Jerusalem,  when  their  Master's 
soul  was  troubled,  and  exceedingly  sorrowful,  as  he  said  there  was  a 
traitor  among  them.  There  was  no  traitor  now,  no  agony  in  Gethse- 
mane,  no  cruel  foes,  no  cross.     All  these  were  forever  past. 

Once  again  Jesus  took  bread,  and,  breaking  it,  he  gave  it  to  them. 
In  silence,  blissful,  yet  reverent,  they  took  their  food  from  his  hand, 
and  satisfied  their  hunger.  They  knew  that  it  was  the  Lord,  and  tha^ 
-vas  enough.  When  the  meal  was  over,  three  times  Christ  asked  of 
Peter  the  question,  "Lovest  thou  me?"  until  at  the  third  time  Peter 
was  aggrieved.  "Lord,"  he  cried,  "thou  knowest  all  things;  thou 
knowest  that  I  love  thee."  Jesus  bade  him  feed  his  lambs  and  his 
sheep ;  and  signified  to  him  what  death  he  should  die  for  his  sake. 
By  this  time  the  morning  had  advanced,  and  the  people  were  waking 
up  to  their  day's  work  in  the  fields,  or  upon  the  lake,  and  Jesus  with- 
drew from  his  disciples,  saying  to  Peter,  "  Follow  me. "     All  of  them 


202  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

vvere  about  to  enter  upon  the  life  he  had  quitted ;  they  would  be 
persecuted,  cast  out  of  the  synagogue,  and  put  to  death  as  he  had 
been  The  servant  could  not  be  above  his  master,  nor  the  disciple 
above  his  Lord  They  must  all,  even  Peter,  who  had  denied  him, 
follow  him  through  shame  and  suffering  to  a  bitter  end.  Peter  under- 
stood Christ's  words  literally,  and  rose  up  to  follow  him ;  John  also 
could  not  stay  behind  if  he  might  but  be  with  his  Lord  in  that 
mysterious  solitude  whither  he  was  about  to  vanish,  and  whence  he 
came  so  suddenly  among  them.  But  here  they  could  not  follow  him. 
Peter  asked  a  question  as  to  what  John  should  do  in  the  perilous  future 
they  were  about  to  enter;  but  Jesus  checked  his  curiosity  by  a  vague, 
indefinite  answer  before  passing  out  of  their  sight.  This  was  the  third 
time  that  Jesus  showed  himself  to  his  disciples  after  he  was  risen  from 
the  dead. 


CHAPTER  XII.— HIS  FRIENDS. 


WICE  had  the  Lord  been  seen  by  the  women  who 
ministered  unto  him ;  three  times  by  the  apostles. 
But  still  a  larger  assembly  were  to  have  proof 
that  he  had  indeed  risen  from  the  dead.  Whilst 
Jesus  was  yet  in  Galilee,  before  his  crucifixion,  he 
had  told  not  only  his  twelve  apostles,  but  the 
mass  of  his  disciples,  that  he  should  be  crucified, 
and  rise  again  on  the  third  day.  He  had  also 
fixed  upon  a  mountain  where  he  would  appear  unto 
them  after  his  resurrection,  probably  a  mountain  in 
some  central  point,  where  all  could  assemble  to  meet  him.  More 
than  five  hundred  disciples  flocked  to  this  appointed  place,  men  and 
women,  those  whom  he  had  delivered  from  blindness,  sickness,  sorrow, 
even  from  evil  spirits.  None  would  be  absent  who  could  possibly 
reach  the  quiet  mountain,  where  their  crucified  Lord  would  meet  them 
in  his  own  person  ;  no  spirit ;  no  illusion.     A  few  even  yet  doubted  \ 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE.  203 

but  the  rest  worshipped  him.  Speaking  to  them  all,  not  to  the 
apostles  merely,  he  bade  them  teach  all  nations  to  observe  whatsoever 
he  had  commanded.  Each  disciple  was  to  be  a  messenger  of  the 
good  tidings  for  him ;  though  only  a  chosen  few  were  to  forsake  all  to 
become  his  ambassadors  to  distant  lands. 

There  was  one  of  the  Lord's  disciples,  who  had  been  his  companion, 
not  for  a  few  months  only,  nor  for  two  or  three  years,  but  during  his 
whole  life.  They  had  been  boys  together,  dwelt  in  the  same  village, 
climbed  the  hills  side  by  side,  learned  from  the  same  schoolmaster, 
gone  together  to  the  synagogue  Sabbath  after  Sabbath ;  perhaps 
worked  at  the  same  carpenter's  bench.  This  was  James,  the  son  of 
his  aunt,  Mary  Cleophas,  of  whom  tradition  says  he  closely  resembled 
the  Lord  in  his  personal  appearance.  Jesus  appeared  alone  to  him,  in 
some  quiet  unknown  'hour,  which  would  have  remained  a  secret  from 
us  if  James  had  not  himself  told  it  to  Paul  some  years  afterward. 
Jesus  had  not  ceased  to  love  those  whom  he  had  loved  in  his  early 
life ;  and  it  may  be  he  appeared  to  James  to  satisfy  some  passionate 
yearning  of  his  cousin's  heart  for  one  more  hour  of  such  communion 
as  those  they  had  together  on  the  hills  round  Nazareth. 

For  forty  days  after  his  resurrection  Christ  remained  upon  earth, 
showing  himself  alive  by  many  infallible  proofs,  eating  and  drinking 
with  his  disciples  ;  being  seen  of  them,  and  touched  by  them  ;  teaching 
them,  and  speaking  to  them  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God, 
which  they  were  to  preach.  He  had  said,  "  I  will  see  you  again,  and 
your  heart  shall  rejoice;  and  your  joy  no  man  taketh  from  you."  His 
words  were  fulfilled.  The  joy  of  his  resurrection  had  made  them  strong 
to  face  the  perils  they  had  once  dreaded  ;  and  by  many  a  proof  he  made 
this  joy  unspeakable,  and  full  of  glory.  No  king,  no  high  priest,  no 
emperor,  not  all  the  powers  and  principalities  of  the  whole  world, 
could  take  this  joy  from  them.  Now  the  time  was  come  when 
Christ  could  trust  his  message  with  them,  and  leave  them  to  go  to  the 
Father. 

The  mission  of  the  apostles  was  to  begin  at  Jerusalem — the  city  of 
his  crucifixion.  There,  some  days  before  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  they 
were  once  more  gathered  together,  with  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and 


204  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

Other  women,  ana  his  kinsmen,  waiting  for  his  last  revelation  of  him- 
self Jesus  came  to  them  and  led  them  out  as  far  as  Bethany,  on  the 
Mount  of  Olives ;  but  whether  all  were  there,  or  his  apostles  only,  we 
cannot  tell.  Seen  and  heard  by  them,  but  invisible  to  eyes  that  had 
no  love  for  him,  he  passed  along  that  road,  down  which 'the  thronging 
multitudes  had  swept  in  glad  procession,  waving  palm  branches,  and 
shouting,  "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David  1 "  Once  more  he  looked 
upon  the  doomed  city,  over  which  he  had  wept,  and  which  was  now 
crowned  by  its  blackest  sin.  '*  Begin  at  Jerusalem,"  he  said.  Even 
yet  the  apostles  did  not  fully  understand  him.  "  Lord,"  they  asked, 
"wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel?"  They  beheld 
their  beautiful  city,  with  its  magnificent  temple  and  gorgeous  palaces, 
and  still  thought  it,  blood-stained  as  it  was,  a  fitting  throne  for  their 
risen  Lord.  Again,  as  once  before,  he  told  them  they  were  not  to 
know  the  times  and  seasons  which  the  Father  had  kept  in  his  own 
power. 

Past  the  home  at  Bethany,  which  he  had  loved  so  much,  and 
blessed  so  wondrously,  Jesus  led  his  disciples  to  some  solitary  spot 
on  the  mountain,  where  Jerusalem,  the  guilty  city,  with  Calvary  at  her 
gates,  was  hidden  from  their  view.  Lifting  up  his  pierced  hands,  he 
blessed  them,  his  friends  who  had  been  with  him  in  his  tribulation ; 
but  whilst  he  was  speaking  a  cloud  came  down  to  overshadow  them, 
as  they  had  been  overshadowed  in  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration. 
Their  loving  hands  could  clasp  him  no  longer ;  they  could  hear  him 
no  more,  but  falling  down,  they  worshipped  him,  as  he  was  thus 
carried  away  from  them.  Even  when  all  was  lost  to  their  sight,  that 
bright  chariot  of  cloud  in  which  he  was  ascending  on  high  amidst 
thousands  of  angels,  and  leading  captivity  captive,  when  that  had 
faded  in  the  deep  blue  of  the  heavens,  they  stood  gazing  steadfastly 
toward  the  point  where  it  had  vanished,  until  two  men  in  white 
apparel  spoke  to  them,  saying,  "Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye 
gazing  up  into  heaven  ?  This  same  Jesus,  which  is  taken  up  from 
you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  again  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen 
him  go  into  heaven." 

In  great  joy  they  returned  to  Jerusalem,  along  the  well-known  road, 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


205 


with  Gethsemane  not  far  off,  and  Calvary  in  sight.  With  one  accorc 
they,  vvith  the  women,  and  Mary,  and  all  the  kinsmen  of  the  Lord, 
continued  together  m  prayer  and  supplication,  going  up  constantly  to 
the  temple  to  praise  and  bless  God. 


CHAPTER  XIII.— HIS  FOES. 

UT  what  of  the  enemies  of  Christ  ?  the  traitor,  the 
priestly  persecutors,  the  unjust  judge,  the  cowardly 
tetrarch,  nay  the  city  itself,  which  could  suffer  such 
crimes?  A  few  years  after  the  crucifixion,  Herod 
Antipas,  the  murderer  of  John  the  Baptist,  was 
goaded  on  by  Herodias  to  solicit  the  rank  and 
title  of  king  from  the  Roman  emperor.  Her 
brother,  Herod  Agrippa,  had  been  made  king 
of  those  provinces  which  had  been  governed  by 
^,1^  Philip    the   tetrarch;    and   he   arrived    in    Palestine, 

A.  D.  38.  His  kingly  state  excited  the  ambition  and 
jealousy  of  Herodias,  who  at  last  succeeded  in  carrying  Herod 
Antipas  to  Rome  to  supplant  Agrippa  in  the  favor  of  the  emperor 
But  Agrippas  influence  proved  stronger  than  theirs ;  and  instead 
of  being  allowed  to  return  to  Palestine,  Herod  Antipas  was 
oanished,  and  from  that  time  till  his  death  dracrrred  out  the  life 
of  an  exile  in  Gaul  and  Spain.  Herodias  did  not  forsake  him; 
the  only  good  thing  we  know  of  that  wicked  woman. 

Pilate  had  sacrificed  Christ  to  his  fears  of  being  misrepresented 
to  the  emperor.  The  very  fate  he  dreaded  befell  him ;  for  riots 
becoming  more  and  more  frequent  under  his  rule,  both  in  Judaea 
and  Samaria,  his  superior,  the  prefect  of  Syria,  sent  him  to  Rome 
for  trial.  He  anived  there  just  after  the  death  of  Tiberius,  who 
had  been  his  friend  and  patron ;  and  Caligula,  his  successor,  banished 


206  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

him  also  to  Gaul,  where,  it  is  said,  he  died  by  his  own  hand,  unable  to 
bear  his  disgrace  and  exile. 

After  the  departure  of  Pilate,  the  prefect  of  Syria  visited  Jerusalem, 
and  removed  Caiaphas  from  his  office  as  high  priest  But  a  son 
of  Annas  was  put  in  his  place,  and  the  chief  power  of  the  priest- 
hood remained  in  the  family  for  a  long  period.  Annas  himself 
died  in  extreme  old  age,  and  was  considered  by  his  countrymen 
one  of  the  happiest  men  of  his  time  and  nation. 

For  a  brief  space  under  Herod  Agrippa,  who  was  made  king 
of  Judaea  and  Samaria,  as  well  as  of  the  provinces  east  of  the 
Jordan,  Jerusalem  enjoyed  prosperity,  whilst  the  early  Christians 
suffered  many  persecutions,  Herod  putting  James,  the  brother  of 
John,  to  death,  to  please  the  Jews.  But  immediately  after  this, 
upon  the  death  of  Herod,  a.  d  45,  a  severe  famine,  lasting  two 
years,  befell  Judaea.  Soon  afterward,  at  the  feast  of  the  passover, 
many  thousands  of  the  people  perished  in  a  tumult  caused  by  the 
intrusion  of  the  Roman  soldiers  into  the  temple,  A  set  of  fanatics 
and  assassins  began  to  infest  Jerusalem  and  its  neighborhood,  some 
of  whom  slew  the  high  priest,  a  son  of  Annas,  whilst  sacrificing 
Riots  and  massacres  became  more  and  more  common.  False 
Messiahs  sprang  up.  Rival  high  priests  headed  different  parties, 
each  bent  upon  plunder.  At  last  the  Jews  broke  out  into  open 
insurrection  against  the  Roman  power ;  but  they  were  also  divided 
among  themselves,  and  separated  into  many  factions,  at  deadly 
enmity  with  one  another.  The  Roman  army  besieged  Jerusalem, 
A.  D.  70,  when  it  was  crowded  with  strangers  and  pilgrims  come 
up  to  keep  the  passover.  Thousands  perished  in  battle,  thousands 
more  by  famine  and  murder  within  the  walls,  and  when  the  city  was 
taken,  the  old  and  sickly  were  massacred,  children  under  seventeen 
years  of  age  were  sold  •  into  slavery,  and  the  rest  were  sent  in 
multitudes  to  make  up  gladiatorial  shows  in  the  amphitheatres  of 
Rome  and  the  provinces.  •'  The  whole  of  the  city  was  so  thoroughly 
levelled  and  dug  up,  that  no  one  visiting  it  would  believe  it  had  ever 
been  inhabited."     It  is  said  that  not  one  of  the  Christians  perished  in 


THE   WONDERFUL  LIFE. 


207 


the  siege,  as  they  fled  from  the  doomed  city  before  it  was  surrounded 
by  the  Roman  army. 

But  a  far  swifter  and  more  direct  destruction  befell  the  man,  who 
knew,  and  knew  distinctly,  what  he  was  doing  when  he  betrayed 
his  Lord  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  Judas  was  not  ignorant 
of  the  purposes  of  the  Sanhedrim ;  he  was  no  stranger  to  Jesus,  He 
had  even  been  one  of  his  familiar  friends,  in  whom  he  trusted.  He 
had  been  an  eye-witness,  like  the  other  apostles,  of  the  wondrous 
life  of  Jesus  from  the  beginning.  He  had  himself  preached  tht: 
gospel,  and  done  works  of  mercy  in  the  name  of  his  Master.  Yet  he 
clearly  understood  that  the  bribe  for  which  he  bargained  to  betray 
him  was  but  the  price  of  his  blood.  For  he  had  been  with  Christ 
when  he  was  hiding  from  his  enemies,  who  sought  to  kill  him  by  any 
means,  by  private  assassination,  or  by  sudden  tumult.  To  sell  Jesus 
to  the  chief  priests,  he  knew,  was  to  betray  innocent  blood. 

We  are  led  to  suppose  that  Judas  accompanied  the  band  which 
carried  Jesus  from  Gethsemane  to  the  palace  of  the  high  priest,  a 
dark-spirited,  anxious,  skulking  villain,  already  hearing  a  low  whisper 
of  that  storm  of  remorse  which  was  soon  to  drive  him  to  despair 
The  wages  of  his  sin  were  promptly  paid  to  him ;  yet  still  he  seems 
to  have  lingered  about  the  spot  where  his  Master  was,  watching  how- 
things  went  on.  It  was  night,  and  he  was  friendless.  All  his  old 
comrades  would  now  turn  from  him  in  terror.  He  was  not  a  stupid 
man :  he  could  feel  keenly.  There  was  but  one  spark  of  comfort — 
his  purse  was  no  longer  empty,  and  the  little  field  he  coveted  could 
now  be  his.    As  soon  as  the  day  dawned  he  would  go  and  see  about  it 

Possibly  there  was  a  faint,  lingering  hope  that  Jesus  might  deliver 
himself.  Once  before  he  had  passed  invisibly  through  the  midst  of 
his  foes,  when  they  took  up  stones  to  kill  him.  Perhaps  he  had  heard 
Jesus  say  to  Peter,  "  Thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot  now  pray  to  my 
Father,  and  he  shall  presently  give  me  more  than  twelve  legions  of 
angels  ?  "  But  the  faint  hope  died  away  as  the  cruel  hours  sped  on ; 
and  when  Jesus  suffered  them  to  lead  him  away,  bound,  before  Pilate, 
Judas  knew  he  would  not  save  himself.  He  ought  to  have  known 
it  before.     A  fierce  passion  of  remorse  seized  upon  him.      Wildly 


208 


CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


he  fled  to  the  temple,  where  the  priests,  his  tempters,  were  already 
preparing  to  celebrate  their  solemn  day  of  peace-offering  for  the 
nation.  He  forced  his  way  into  the  inner  portions  of  the  sacred 
place,  probably  into  the  hall  of  the  Sanhedrim,  where  the  priests 
assembled  early  every  morning  to  cast  lots  for  the  services  of  the 
day.  He  flung  down  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  crying,  "  I  have 
sinned,  in  that  I  have  betrayed  the  innocent  blood ! "  The  priests 
heard,  and  answered  him  with  a  sneer.  "  What  is  that  to  us  ?  "  they 
asked;  "see  thou  to  that!"  Judas  left  the  money,  the  price  of  his 
Lord,  and  departed  forever  froni  the  temple. 

It  may  be  he  lingered  through  the  terrible  morning  of  the 
crucifixion,  until  after  the  awful  crime  in  which  he  had  had  a 
chief  share  was  completed.  Then,  seeking  out  the  field  he  had 
coveted,  and  which  was  all  but  purchased,  he  put  an  end  to  his 
miserable  life.  Not  without  warning  had  this  bitter  end  come,  a 
merciful  warning  from  his  Lord,  who  had  said,  whilst  there  was  yet 
time  for  him  to  repent,  "  The  Son  of  man  goeth  as  it  is  written  of 
him :  but  wo  unto  that  man  by  whom  the  Son  of  man  is  betrayed  \ 
it  Jiad  been  good  for  that  man  if  he  had  not  been  born." 


THh   WISE  VIRGINS. 


THE  F0<.'1JSH  VIRGINS. 


209 


ST.  JOHN, 


THE   BELOVED   DISCIPLE,   THE   APOSTLE,   PROPHET,   AND   EVANGELIST ^ 
HIS   LIFE.   CHARACTER,   AND   EXAMPLE. 

N  THIS  wonderful  book,  the  New  Testament,  the 
life,  the  teachings,  the  sufferings,  death,  resurrec= 
tion,  and  ascension  of  the  divine  Redeemer, 
necessarily  and  appropriately  occupy  the  first 
place ;  and  are  followed  by  a  history  of  the 
origin  and  development  of  the  church  of  the 
Redeemed,  which  he  founded.  But  in  his  work 
and  mission  here  on  earth,  and  in  the  work  which 
he  committed  to  his  disciples  to  be  done  after  his 
ascension,  we  find  three  persons  named  with 
especial  honor,  and  their  labors  narrated  with  particular 
care  and  minuteness.  These  three  were;  Peter,  bold,  impulsive, 
warm-hearted,  but  fickle  and  wayward  in  his  early  career ;  the  apostle 
of  the  circumcision;  John,  ardent,  manly,  loving  and  beloved,  and 
modest  and  retiring  in  his  disposition;  but  with  strong  prejudices 
and  ambitions;  the  man  who  had  understanding  of  the  visions  of 
God ;  Paul,  stern,  resolute,  uncompromising,  and  heroic,  yet  tender 
and  sympathizing  with  those  who  were  in  sorrow ;  the  great  apostle 
to  the  Gentiles.  All  of  the  three  were  apostles,  though  one  received 
his  commission  from  his  risen  and  ascended  Lord.  All  contributed 
to  the  number  of  the  inspired  books  of  the  New  Testament ;  Peter, 
according  to  generally  received  tradition,  furnishing  to  his  young 
companion,  Mark,  the  material  which  was  wrought  so  skilfully  into 
the  second  gospel ;  and,  in  his  later  years,  writing  those  two  general' 


2  12  THE  APOSTLES  OF  /ESUS. 

r:pistles  to  the  churches,  which  are  so  full  of  instruction,  reproof,  ana 
onsolation ;  John,  writing,  first,  that  remarkable  collection  of 
arophecies  and  warnings,  which  we  know  as  the  Apocalypse,  or 
'Hook  of  Revelation,  and,  some  twenty  years  later,  the  fourth  gospel, 
^o  full  in  its  demonstrations  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God;  and, 
ater  still,  when  he  had  upon  his  head  the  snows  of  nearly  a  hundred 
years,  those  three  epistles,  which  fitly  and  fully  round  out  the  gospel 
he  had  given  to  the  church ;  Paul,  in  the  midst  of  his  arduous  and 
incessant  labors,  writing  thirteen  and  perhaps  fourteen  epistles  to  the 
churches  which  he  had  founded,  and  the  individuals  converted  under 
his  preaching:  epistles  which  contain  in  themselves  a  whole  body  of 
divinity,  and  are  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  and 
for  instruction  in  righteousness.  Thus,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Gospels  of  Matthew  and  Luke,  the  Acts,  the  short  Epistles  of  James 
and  Jude,  and  possibly  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  whole  New 
Testament  was  written  by  these  three  men,  and  the  book  of  Acts  is 
almost  wholly  occupied  with  the  record  of  their  labors. 

Of  these  three  mighty  leaders  of  the  sacramental  host,  the  pillars 
of  the  early  church,  we  have  elsewhere  given  the  principal  particulars 
m  the  life  of  Peter;  we  have  traced,  in  following  the  sacred  record, 
the  abundant  labors,  toils,  sacrifices,  trials,  and  triumphs,  of  the  heroic 
and  undaunted  Paul ;  and  it  now  only  remarns  to  us  to  portray,  as 
well  as  we  may,  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  life  and  character  of  "  the 
disciple  whom  Jesus  loved." 

In  doing  this  we  must  of  necessity  go  back  to  his  birth  and 
:hildhood,  and  see  for  ourselves  what  were  the  circumstances  b) 
vhich  these  were  surrounded :  for  the  early  training  has  often  much 
vo  do  with  the  later  character  and  life  of  the  man. 

Galilee,  the  region  in  which  James  and  John,  Peter  and  Andrew 
\n(\  indeed  most  of  the  apostles,  were  born,  was,  in  the  time  of 
our  Lord,  very  populous,  and  its  population,  far  from  being  wholly 
Jewish,  was  made  up  of  a  great  variety  of  nationalities.  This  was 
particularly  true  of  the  cities  and  towns  around  the  sea  of  Galilee,  or 
!ake  of  Gennesaret,  as  it  was  often  called.  Here  might  be  found, 
jostling  each  other  in  the  narrow  streets,  Syrians  from  Damascus: 


ST.  JOHN,   THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE.  213 

Greeks  from  Antioch,  Asia  Minor  and  the  Grecian  isles ;  Arabs  from 
the  Eastern  desert,  on  errands  of  plunder;  Idumaeans  and  Moabites 
from  the  regions  around  the  Dead  sea;  the  various  tribes  of  Asia 
Minor,  Galatians,  Phrygians,  Cappadocians,  Cilicians,  Lycaonians, 
Mysians  and  lonians ;  and  mingling  with  them  as  fishermen, 
carpenters,  farmers,  tent-makers,  and  sometimes  bankers,  tax- 
gatherers,  and  usurers,  the  Jews,  who  here  made  up  perhaps 
one-third  or  one-half  of  the  population ;  while  in  the  towns  and 
villages  of  the  hills  they  were  much  more  numerous.  Above  all 
in  power  and  authority,  though  but  few  in  number,  were  the  hated 
Romans,  the  rulers  of  this  mixed  population. 

But  what  the  Galilean  Jews  lacked  in  numbers  they  made  up  in 
their  ardent  patriotism,  and  their  abundant  religious  zeal.  Though  it 
was  the  habit  of  the  proud  and  conceited  Pharisees  of  Jerusalem  to 
speak  slightingly  of  the  Galilean  Jews,  to  ridicule  their  peculiar 
dialect,  and  to  represent  them  as  ignorant  of  the  law,  there  was  really 
no  occasion  for  such  reproaches.  The  Galilean  Jew  could  generally 
speak  Greek,  while  the  Jew  of  Judaea  was  often  ignorant  of  it ;  to  the 
wider  culture  which  he  thus  obtained,  he  added  a  most  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  which  were  taught,  both 
in  the  families  and  synagogues  of  Galilee,  more  carefully  than  any- 
where else  in  Palestine.  There  had  also  been  made  there  very 
thorough  provision  for  a  good  general  education  in  all  the  studies 
of  that  time;  and  the  rabbis  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  had  established 
everywhere  schools  and  colleges,  for  instruction  in  those  traditions  of 
the  elders  known  as  the  oral  or  unwritten  law,  with  which  they  sought 
to  burden  the  consciences  of  devout  Jews,  "teaching  for  doctrines  the 
commandments  of  men."  Nowhere  in  Palestine  were  there  to  be 
found  men  more  zealous  for  the  law,  or  more  ready  to  suffer  imprison- 
ment, tortures,  and  death  for  their  religion,  than  among  the  Jews  of 
Galilee.  And  with  them,  religious  zeal  and  the  love  of  freedom  went 
hand  in  hand.  They  were  the  brave  and  patriotic  soldiers  of  the 
Maccabsean  brothers,  men  who  had  no  idea  of  defeat,  and  who  would 
attack  and  conquer  an  army  of  ten  times  their  number ;  men  like 
Cromwell's  Ironsides,  who  would  go  into  battle  singing  the  Psalms 

13 


214  THE  APOSTLES   OF  JESUS. 

of  David,  while,  with  giant  strokes,  they  hewed  down  their  enemies. 
And  when  their  country  came  under  the  power  of  the  Romans,  they 
were  restless  and  constantly  rising  in  insurrection.  To  them,  the  idea 
of  a  coming  Messiah  was  ever  present,  and  as  they  would  only 
recognize  the  rule  of  God  himself,  through  his  priests,  their  idea  of 
the  Messiah  was,  that  though  he  should  possess  divine,  or  at  least 
archangelic  attributes,  he  should  be  to  his  chosen  people  a  deliverer 
from  the  Roman  despotism,  and  should  rule  and  reign  over  them,  as 
a  temporal  prince,  and  high  priest  on  the  throne  of  David,  exalting  to 
positions  of  trust  and  power  in  his  kingdom  or  government  those 
devout  and  patriotic  Jews  whom  he  might  select  as  best  qualified  for 
such  a  service.  That  the  Messiah  would  be  a  spiritual  prince,  that  his 
dominion  was  to  be  over  the  minds  and  souls  of  men ;  that  he  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  administration  of  temporal  power,  and 
ihat  the  Gentile  believer  would  enjoy  equal  privileges  with  the  Jew 
who  trusted  in  him,  both  in  this  life  and  the  life  to  come,  and  that  he 
was  to  redeem  to  himself  a  chosen  people,  a  spiritual  Israel,  from  all 
nations  that  dwelt  on  the  face  of  the  earth — were  ideas  which  the 
Galilean  Jew  was  incapable  of  comprehending,  until  his  heart  was 
enlightened  from  on  high ;  and  even  then,  he  would  ever  and  anon 
turn  back  to  his  old  belief  in  a  temporal  Messiah. 

The  country  or  region  of  Galilee,  which  comprised  the  ancient 
territory  of  Issachar,  Zebulun,  Asher  and  Naphtali,  was,  in  the  time 
of  our  Lord,  surpassingly  beautiful.  The  combination  of  lake,  river 
and  sea,  of  elevated  mountain  slopes,  broad  fertile  plains,  and  valleys 
clad  in  living  green,  made  up  landscapes  of  remarkable  loveliness 
The  hills  were  terraced  almost  to  their  tops ;  and  the  latitude,  which 
was  that  of  Florida,  was  rendered  more  diverse  in  its  temperature  and 
its  productions  by  the  varying  heights  of  surface  found  within  a  few 
miles.  Little  Hermon,  the  loftiest  mountain  west  of  the  sea  of  Galilee, 
was  about  4000  feet  above  the  sea ;  Tabor  and  Carmel,  the  one  over- 
looking the  sea  of  Galilee,  the  other  the  Mediterranean,  were  about 
1800  feet  above  the  Mediterranean,  while  the  sea  of  Galilee  was  635 
feet  below  that  level.  Yet  the  mountain  slopes  are  not  usually 
precipitous,  and  on  some  of  these  plains,  valleys,  and  hillsides,  were 


ST.  JOHN,   THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE.  215 

to  be  found  the  fruits,  grains,  flowers,  and  forest  trees  of  most  of  the 
temperate  and  semi-tropical  countries  of  the  world. 

In  the  small  city  of  Bethsaida,  on  the  northwest  shore  of  the  sea  of 
Galilee,  resided  at  this  time  two  Jewish  families,  both  strict  observers 
of  the  law,  and  remarkable,  even  among  their  countrymen,  for  their 
patriotism  and  devotion.  The  names  of  the  heads  of  these  families 
were  Jonas  and  Zebedee,  or  Zabdai,  as  his  Jewish  neighbors  preferred 
to  call  him.  Each  had  two  sons ;  those  of  Jonas  were  named  Simon, 
afterward  called  also  Peter  or  Cephas,  and  Andrew ;  those  of  Zabdai, 
James  and  John.  Neither  family  was  abjectly  poor ;  that  of  Zabdai 
was,  for  the  time  and  place,  comparatively  wealthy ;  owning  not  only 
some  property  at  Bethsaida,  but  also  a  dwelling  at  Jerusalem.  Both, 
in  accordance  with  the  Jewish  custom,  that  every  man  must  have  a 
trade  or  calling,  pursued  the  business  of  fishing  in  the  lake  or  sea  of 
Galilee,  at  that  time  a  profitable  occupation,  followed  by  many  of  the 
inhabitants  on  the  shores  of  the  lake.  The  sons  of  Jonas  were  some- 
what older  than  those  of  Zabdai,  but  the  two  families  were  very 
intimate.  They  were  all  taught  to  read  the  law  before  their  sixth 
year,  and  were  then  sent  to  the  synagogue  school,  where  they 
remained  till  they  were  fourteen  or,  sixteen,  and  acquired  a  good 
general  education.  If  either  of  the  four  ever  attended  the  higher 
schools  or  colleges  of  the  rabbis,  of  which  there  was  one  at  Sepphoris, 
some  eighteen  miles  away,  and  possibly  one  also  at  Capernaum,  it 
must  have  been  John,  whose  disposition  for  study  was  strongly 
marked,  and  who  in  later  years  was  a  scholar  of  good  repute.  As 
they  grew  up  the  young  men  adopted  the  calling  of  their  fathers,  and 
".vere  for  a  time  in  partnership.  Of  the  two  sons  of  Zabdai,  James,  the 
elder,  was  about  the  age  of  Jesus,  while  John  was  four  or  five  years 
younger.  Their  mother,  Salome,  a  woman  of  great  energy  and 
perseverance,  and  withal  of  an  earnest  and  devotional  spirit,  was, 
according  to  the  universal  tradition  of  the  early  church,  a  kinswoman 
of  Mary,  the  mother  of  our  Lord,  though  there  is  a  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  what  was  the  exact  relationship.  Some  believe  her  to 
have  been  a  daughter  of  Joseph  by  a  former  wife,  while  others,  with 
more  probability,  regard  her  as  an  elder  sister  of  Mary.     The  intimacy 


2i6  THE  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS. 

between  the  two  families  may  not  have  been  kept  up  during  the  child- 
hood of  the  sons  of  Zabdai,  as  Nazareth  was  among  the  hills,  twelve 
or  fifteen  miles  from  Bethsaida ;  but  that  John,  and  probably  James, 
were  among  the  earliest  disciples  of  Jesus,  that  Salome  had  become 
well  acquainted  with  Jesus,  and  claimed  fium  him  the  privileges  o« 


TWO  WOMEN  GRINDING. 

kinship  for  her  sons,  and  that,  apparently  after  her  husband's  death. 
she  devoted  her  time  and  her  property  to  ministrations  to  the  bodily 
welfare  of  our  Lord,  and,  with  the  constancy  and  love  of  a  faithful 
woman's  heart,  followed  him  to  the  cross  and  the  tomb,  we  know  firom 
the  gospels. 

John  and  his  brother  James  had   undoubtedlv  't^   accordance  wi^'h 


ST.  JOHN,    THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE.  217 

the  custom  of  the  devout  Jews,  gone  up  to  the  temple  at  Jerusalem 
at  the  great  feasts,  and  especially  at  the  passover,  from  the  time 
they  attained  their  twelfth  year.  The  journey,  the  songs  of  their 
pilgrimage,  the  first  sight  of  Jerusalem,  and  of  the  temple,  which  was 
then  nearing  its  completion,  the  architectural  beauty  of  the  buildings 
of  the  holy  city,  and  the  grand  sublimity  of  the  temple  worship,  were 
all  well  adapted  to  impress  deeply  the  thoughtful  mind  of  a  child  like 
John,  and  these  impressions  would  be  rendered  more  permanent  by 
his  subsequent  visits.  That  they  did  thus  impress  him  is  evident,  not 
only  from  his  eager  inquiries  of  his  Divine  Master  concerning  the 
temple  and  the  city,  and  their  predicted  destruction,  but  also  in  a 
greater  degree  from  his  vivid  descriptions  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  with 
its  gates  of  pearl,  its  walls  of  precious  stones,  and  its  streets  of  gold, 
all  written  at  a  time  when  both  the  city  and  the  temple  of  Jerusalem 
were  tottering  to  their  downfall. 

But  as  they  attained  to  the  years  of  manhood,  and  the  rumors  began 
to  gather  strength  that  the  Messiah,  so  long  promised,  was  coming, 
and  was  perhaps  indeed  already  upon  the  earth ;  that  the  fulness  of 
time  had  come,  and  that  possibly  from  their  own  kindred  (for  rumors 
of  the  wonderful  events  at  Nazareth  could  hardly  have  failed  to  reach 
the  ears  of  Salome)  was  to  spring  that  blessed  one,  the  Hope  of 
Israel,  the  expectation  of  whose  birth  had  beautified  and  glorified 
the  face  of  every  mother  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  for  centuries ; 
these  young  men  began  to  watch  eagerly  for  the  dawn  of  the 
Messianic  day.  In  their  early  childhood  had  come  into  their 
own  vicinity  a  brave,  patriotic  man,  a  hero  of  the  Maccabsean  type, 
Judas  of  Gaulonitis,  oftener  called  Judas  of  Galilee;  a  man  whom 
their  fathers  had  hoped  was  he  that  should  deliver  Israel ;  and  the 
sons  of  Galilee,  ever  eager  for  freedom,  had  gone  out  to  swell  his 
ranks  by  thousands,  in  the  expectation  that  they  should  succeed  in 
throwing  off  the  Roman  yoke ;  but  the  Roman  legions  under  Cyrenius 
proved  too  strong  for  the  unskilled  insurgent  leader,  and  he  and  his 
troops  perished,  or  were  scattered,  at  the  first  shock  of  battle.  Would 
such  a  fate  befall  the  coming,  the  promised  Messiah  ?  Not  if  he  were 
indeed  the  chosen  of  God,  the  great  deliverer,  who,  as  they  read  the 


2i8  THE  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS. 

prophecies,  was  to  be  their  champion  against  the  Roman  hosts.  The 
blood  thrilled  through  the  veins  of  these  sons  of  Zabdai,  as  they 
thought  of  the  coming  of  this  prince  Messiah ;  for  they  were  young 
and  brave,  they  loved  their  country  and  their  faith,  and  as  Galilean 
Jews  they  were  willing  to  fight  to  the  death  under  a  gallant  leader, 
to  throw  off  the  Roman  yoke,  and  to  restore  the  sway  of  Jehovah  over 
the  chosen  people  of  God. 

Tell  me  not  that  this  fervid,  warlike  spirit  is  inconsistent  with  the 
character  of  the  pure,  gentle,  lamb-like  John!  John  was  a  Galilean 
and  a  Pharisee;  to  him  there  was  no  holier  cause  than  that  of 
insurrection  against  the  hated  Roman,  no  duty  more  sacred  than 
that  of  fighting  for  his  country,  his  faith,  and  his  God.  For  these  he 
would  have  fought  to  the  death,  would  have  endured  the  severest 
tortures,  or  suffered  death  on  the  cross.  There  was  nothing  weak, 
cowardly,  or  effeminate  abouL  this  young  man.  We  shall  see  evidence 
enough  of  this  further  on. 

But  just  at  this  time  there  comes  intelligence  to  him  which  changes 
the  whole  current  of  his  thoughts.  A  great  prophet  and  reformer  has 
appeared  at  the  fords  of  the  Jordan — perhaps  the  upper  ford,  only 
thirty-five  or  forty  miles  distant ;  he  is  urging  upon  the  people  that 
they  should  repent  and  be  baptized  as  the  indication  of  their  purpose 
to  begin  a  new  life ;  and  as  a  reason  for  this  repentance  and  baptism, 
hitherto  only  required  of  proselytes  to  the  Jewish  faith,  he  tells  them 
that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand ;  that  the  Messiah  is  coming 
speedily,  and  this  repentance  must  precede  his  coming.  This 
reformer's  name  is  John,  and  because  of  his  practice  of  baptizing 
he  is  called  "John  the  Baptist;"  he  is  of  priestly  family,  though  he 
does  not  himself  engage  in  the  work  of  the  priesthood,  but  appears 
like  one  of  the  old  prophets ;  most  of  all  like  Elijah,  whom  in  his 
rough  dress  and  his  coarse  and  sparing  diet,  his  earnestness,  and  his 
fearful  denunciations  of  sin  and  hypocrisy,  he  strongly  resembles 
John,  and  Andrew,  his  friend  and  townsman,  resolve  at  once  to  go 
and  listen  to  this  new  prophet.  Passing  along  the  plain  of  Genne- 
saret,  on  the  western  shore  of  the  lake,  they  soon  come  to  the  Jordan 
valley,  with  its  rough  and  volcanic  rocks,  its  frequent  cataracts,  and  its 


'THE  PEARL  OF   GREAT   PRlCE."~Matt.  13:  46. 


219 


THE  APOSTLES   OF  JESUS.  221 

thick,  jungle-like  forests.  By  what  road  they  find  their  way  to  the 
wider  plain  at  the  ford  we  know  not,  but  they  reach  it  at  last,  ana 
listen  with  intense  interest  to  the  ringing  appeals  of  this  "  voice  from 
the  wilderness."  Their  own  life,  which  they  had  deemed  so  pure  and 
blameless,  now  presents  itself  to  them  as  full  of  sin ;  and  with 
repentant  hearts,  and  an  earnest  desire  to  do  the  will  of  God,  they 
present  themselves  to  the  prophet  for  baptism.  They  are  accepted, 
imd  seal  their  vows  before  God  and  men  in  the  waters  of  the  Jordaa 
To  the  major  part  of  the  multitudes  who  listened  to  the  preaching  of 
John  the  Baptist,  his  constant  references  to  him  who  should  come ' 
after  him,  one  far  mightier  than  himself,  the  latchet  of  whose  sandals 
he  was  not  worthy  to  unloose,  were  but  imperfectly  comprehended. 
They  knew,  indeed,  that  the  Messiah  was  soon  to  come,  and  that 
these  words  probably  referred  to  him,  but  they  believed  that  the 
Messiah  was  to  be  a  temporal  prince;  and  while  they  were  impressed 
with  the  earnestness  of  him  who  proclaimed  himself  as  merely  the 
forerunner  of  this  Messiah,  they  half  believed  that  he  was  himself  the 
long  predicted  prince,  and  that  ere  long,  casting  away  his  rough  robe 
of  camel's  hair,  and  abandoning  his  scanty  desert  fare  of  locusts  and 
wild  honey,  he  would  appear  as  the  glorious  Messiah,  the  King  of 
kings ;  and  till  this  transformation  took  place,  having  taken  all  the 
steps  of  preparation  for  his  coming  which  they  knew,  the  confession 
of  their  sins  and  baptism^  they  were  content  to  await,  at  their  own 
homes,  the  commencement  of  his  reign.  But  there  were  some  who — 
reverencing  and  honoring  the  son  of  Zacharias  as  a  true  prophet  and 
the  forerunner  of  the  Messiah,  and  believing  that  his  holy  and 
abstemious  life,  his  humble  and  devout  spirit,  and  his  evident 
consecration  to  the  service  of  God,  had  given  him  a  clearer  insight 
into  the  mysteries  of  the  future — desired  a  nearer  intimacy  with  him, 
and  sought  from  his  lips  fuller  instruction  and  information  concerning 
this  coming  Messiah.  Among  the  most  earnest  and  eager  of  these 
were  the  two  young  Galileans,  John  and  Andrew,  whom  he  had  so 
recently  baptized  ;  and  their  simple  and  ingenuous  natures,  and  their 
evident  desire  for  instruction,  won  the  heart  of  the  great  reformer. 
In  his  wild  desert  life,  John  the  Baptist  had  been  a  zealous  student 


222  ST.  JOHN,   THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE. 

Of  the  Scriptures,  and  God  had  revealed  to  him,  as  he  always  does  to 
those  who  seek  wisdom  from  above  in  an  humble  spirit,  much  of  the 
character  and  work  of  the  Divine  Redeemer.     To  him  Jesus  was  the 
Light  of  the  World,  the  Ancient  of  Days,  the  Judge  who  should 
discriminate  between  the  wheat  and  the  chaff,  the  pure  and  holy  and 
the  hypocritical.     He  did  not  fully  comprehend  the  plan  of  salvation, 
but  he  knew  that  Jesus  was  the  one  sacrifice,  the  atoning  lamb,  whoHi 
all  the  sacrifices  slain  on  Jewish  altars  typified,  who  should  take  awa^ 
the  sin  of  the  world.     All  this  and  more  he  communicated,  in  tht 
intervals  of  his  preaching,  to  the  two  disciples,  who  drank  in  his 
words  with  the  deepest  interest     He  told  them,  moreover,  that,  six  or 
seven  weeks  before,  there  had  come  to  him  for  baptism  one  whom 
from  his  wondrous  grace  and  dignity  he  believed  to  be  the  Messiah 
and  that  he  at  first  refused  to  baptize  him,  saying,  "  I  have  need  to 
be  baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to  me  ?  "  but  that  this  gracious 
and   God-like   one  had   said,  "Suffer  it  to  be  so  now,  for  thus  it 
becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness."     •'  It  had  been  revealed  tc 
him,"  he  said,  "  that  he  should  be  able  to  recognize  the  Messiah  when 
he  should  be  called  to  baptize  him.  by  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  the  semblance  of  a  dove,  and  its  resting  upon  his  head."     When 
he  baptized  this  mysterious  person,  not  only  was  there  this  manifesta 
tion  of  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  visible  form,  but  the  heavens 
opened  above  him,  and  from  out  of  the  excellent  glory  there  came  a 
voice,  which  said,  "This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased."      Then    John    the    Baptist   knew   that   on    him    had   been 
conferred  the  hisjhest  honor  which  had  ever  been  bestowed  on  mortal 
man,  that  of  administering  baptism  to  the  Son  of  God.     And  from 
this  time  he  had  ever  been  ready  to  testify  that  the  Hope  of  Israe 
had  come. 

On  the  next  day  after  this  interview  with  the  two  disciples,  Jesus 
who  had  but  just  returned  from  the  mount  of  the  temptation,  passed 
near  where  John  was  baptizing,  and  John  immediately  pointed  him 
out  to  the  wondering  multitude,  with  the  impressive  words,  "  Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  f"  He 
then  explained  briefly  what  he  had  already  stated  more  fully  to  the 


THE  APOSTLES   OF  JESUS.  223 

two  disciples,  of  the  circumstances  attending  Christ's  baptism.  It  i* 
hardly  probable  that  Andrew  and  John  were  present  on  this  occasion , 
but  the  next  morning  John  was  standing  near  the  river's  bank  with  the 
two  disciples,  and  Jesus  again  passed,  and  he  pointed  him  out  to  them, 
saying,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God."  This  was  enough  for  them  ;  their 
eyes  were  greeted  with  the  sight  of  the  long-expected  Messiah. 
Eagerly,  yet  timidly,  they  followed  his  footsteps,  and  presently  he 
turned  and  said  to  them  in  that  gracious  voice  of  his,  "  What  seek 
ye  ? "  Awe-struck,  yet  encouraged,  they  answer  his  question  by 
another,  "Rabbi,  where  dwellest  thou?"  His  answer  was  still  more 
gracious,  "Come  and  see."  Thus  encouraged  they  followed  to  his 
temporary  home,  and  as  it  was  but  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,*  they 
had  nearly  the  whole  day  for  their  interview  with  him.  What  a  visit 
that  was !  How  did  the  heafts  of  these  young  men  burn  within 
them  as  they  realized  that  they  had  thus  held  converse  with  the 
Messiah,  he  whose  coming  patriarchs  and  prophets,  kings  and  holy 
ones,  in  all  the  ages,  had  so  longed  to  see,  and  yet  had  died  without  the 
sight.  It  does  not  seem  that  either  John  or  Andrew  ever  doubted, 
from  that  time,  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  though  it  was  not  till  long 
after  that  they  fully  realized  who  and  what  the  Messiah  was. 

Much  as  they  had  been  drawn  to  John  the  Baptist,  and  greatly 
indebted  as  they  were  to  him  for  thus  bringing  them  to  Christ,  they 
had  now  found  a  new  and  higher  love,  a  Master  to  whom  they  were 
drawn  by  a  stronger  and  more  enduring  tie.  Henceforward  they 
were  the  disciples,  not  of  John,  but  of  Christ.  And  their  zeal 
constrained  them,  as  the  love  of  Christ  has  always  since  done, 
to  bring  their  friends  to  him.  Andrew  sought  for  his  brother  Simon, 
who  was  among  the  multitude  who  were  listening  to  John,  and 
having  found  him,  brought  him  at  once  to  Jesus,  saying  only,  "  WflE 
have  found  the  Messias."  Jesus  welcomed  him  with  a  new  name,. 
Cephas,  or,  in  its  Greek  translation,  Peter.     John,  with  that  modesty 

*John  says  in  his  gospel,  "It  was  about  the  tenth  hour,"  but  it  is  to  be  observed  that,  unlike 
(he  other  evangelists  (probably  from  the  fact  that  his  gospel  was  not  written  till  some  years  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem),  John  always  uses  the  Roman  reckoning,  which  made  the  day  begin  At 
midnight,  instead  of  the  Jewish,  which  began  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning. 


224  ST.  JOHN,    THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE 

which  is  one  of  his  most  beautiful  traits,  says  nothing  of  his  own 
efforts  to  bring  his  kindred  to  Christ,  but  we  may  well  believe  that  if 
James  was  anywhere  within  his  reach,  at  the  fords  of  the  Jordan,  as 
he  may  very  well  have  been,  he  did  not  rest  till  he  had  brought  him 
alsc  to  Christ,  with  the  announcement,  "  We  have  found  the  Messiah." 

Jesus  had  determined  the  next  day  to  leave  Bethabara  for  his  old 
home  in  Galilee,  and  his  new  disciples  were  delighted  to  accompany 
him.  On-  the  way  two  more  were  added  to  their  number,  Philip 
and  Nathanael,  or  Bartholomew,  both  afterwards  apostles. 

Immediately  on  his  return  to  Galilee,  Jesus  and  his  disciples  were 
invited  to  a  wedding  at  Cana,  a  small  town  not  far  from  Nazareth. 
Here  was  performed  the  miracle  of  changing  the  water  into  wine,  of 
which  John  was  an  eye-witness,  and  which  is  recorded  only  by  him. 
After  this  miracle  Jesus  went  with  his  family  and  his  disciples  to 
Capernaum,  then  the  principal  city  of  the  Gennesaret  plain,  and  not 
far  from  Bethsaida.  This  was  subsequently  his  Galilean  home, 
and  the  place  where  many  of  his  miracles  were  performed.  His 
stay  there  at  this  time  was  brief,  probably  mainly  for  the  purpose  of 
joining  one  of  the  great  caravans  or  companies  which  were  going  to 
Jerusalem  to  the  feast  of  the  passoven  Their  route  would  be,  at  this 
time,  through  the  Jordan  valley,  at  least  from  Bethshan  or  Scyth- 
opolis,  in  order  to  avoid  going  through  Samaria.  John  had  doubtless 
been  often  to  Jerusalem  at  the  season  of  the  great  feasts,  but  never 
before  in  such  goodly  company  as  at  this  time.  As  a  constant 
companion  of  his  Master,  he  was  privileged  to  hear  from  his  lips  such 
words  of  wisdom  and  instruction  "  as  never  man  spake ; "  and  as  they 
climbed  the  rugged  cliffs  from  Jericho  to  Jerusalem,  how  his  heart  must 
have  leaped  for  joy  as  the  temple  came  in  sight  from  the  height  of 
Olivet,  for,  for  the  first  time  in  the  world's  history,  could  it  be  said 
that  the  vision  and  the  words  of  the  inspired  prophet  were  about  to 
be  fulfilled,  "  The  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple ;  let  all  the  earth  keep 
silence  before  him."  But,  alas  I  though  a  few  devout  souls,  like  John, 
had  recognized  the  Lord  of  the  temple,  and  were  prepared  to  give  him 
their  worship  and  homage,  yet  Israel  did  not  know,  his  people  did  not 
consider.     The  priests  and  Levites,  who  ministered  at  the  altars  and 


THE  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS.  225 

performed  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  were  wholly  unaware  that  he, 
to  whom  that  temple  was  dedicated,  had  come  down  from  the  temple 
not  made  with  hands,  and  had  deigned  to  grace  this  earthly  house 
with  his  presence.  He  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received 
him  not.  There  was,  however,  one  scene  in  connection  with  this 
passover  feast,  which  made  so  vivid  an  impression  upon  John  that, 
more  than  fifty  years  later,  he  describes  it  as  if  it  had  occurred  but  the 
day  before.  Jesus,  on  his  arrival  at  Jerusalem,  had  entered  the  temple 
as  its  rightful  heir.  It  was  his  Father's  house,  the  one  temple  in  the 
wide  world  consecrated  to  the  pure  worship  of  Jehovah;  and  yet 
there  in  its  courts  were  lowing  oxen,  calves  and  heifers,  sheep  and 
goats,  lambs  and  kids ;  and  on  one  side  great  numbers  of  doves  and 
pigeons,  which  the  high  priest  himself  had  caused  to  be  brought  there 
for  sale  from  his  own  extensive  dove-cotes  on  the  Mount  of  Olives ; 
and  the  bargaining  of  the  men  who  had  these  in  charge  with  the  eager 
worshippers  created  the  greatest  confusion ;  added  to  this  was  the 
babble  of  the  money  changers,  Jewish  usurers,  who  made  large 
commissions  by  exchanging  shekels  of  the  sanctuary,  which  alone 
could  be  paid  for  the  temple  dues,  for  the  Roman,  Greek,  and  other 
foreign  coins,  brought  by  the  Jews  of  the  dispersion  who  thronged  to 
Jerusalem  at  these  times  from  all  parts  of  the  Roman  empire.  All 
this  trafhc  was  forbidden  by  the  law,  but  the  Jews,  and  especially  the 
priests,  were  proverbially  greedy  of  gain,  and  Annas,  the  high  priest, 
cared  more  for  gold  than  for  the  honor  of  God  or  the  purity  of  the 
sanctuary. 

All  this  desecration  of  the  temple  was  apparent  to  Jesus  at  a  glance, 
and  it  roused  his  righteous  indignation.  Seizing  some  of  the  small 
«-.ords  or  bands  of  rushes,  which  bound  the  animals  to  be  sacrificed,  he 
plaited  them  into  a  scourge  or  whip,  and  as  the  dignity  and  sublime 
anger  of  the  divine  nature  gleamed  forth  from  those  eyes,  ordinarily 
so  mild  and  gentle,  he  drove  the  animals  and  their  owners  out  of  the 
temple  area,  and  into  the  streets  of  Jerusalem;  poured  out  the 
changers'  money,  overthrew  the  tables,  and  said  unto  them  that  sold 
doves.  "Take  these  things  hence;  make  not  my  Father's  house  an 
house  of  merchandise."     The  venders  of  this   merchandise,  and  the 


226  57:  JOHN,    THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE. 

money  changers,  awe-struck  by  his  evident  right  to  command,  and 
fearing  to  encounter  those  terrible  eyes,  fled  in  haste,  and  ventured 
no  resistance  or  even  remonstrance ;  and  it  was  not  till  hours  after 
that  some  of  the  priestly  party,  who  had  probably  been  heavy  losers 
by  this  summary  ejection,  ventured,  without  questioning  the  right- 
eousness of  the  transaction,  to  ask  for  some  sign  or  proof  of  his 
authority  to  thus  drive  out  those  who  desecrated  the  temple.  His 
reply  was  a  memorable  one :  "  Destroy  this  tem.ple,  and  in  three  days, 
I  will  raise  it  up."  The  answer  was  an  enigma  to  them  ;  he  who  had 
called  the  world  into  existence  could  doubtless  have  reared  anew  the 
beautiful  temple  of  Herod,  in  three  days  or  three  hours,  had  it  been 
needful  to  do  so,  but  there  was  a  deeper  and  holier  meaning  to  his 
words.  The  temple  of  Herod  was  but  the  outward  covering  or  shell, 
in  whose  Holy  of  Holies,  the  Jews  believed,  was  enshrined  the  divine 
Shechinah ;  so  now  he,  the  God  whom  they  professed  to  worship,  had 
come  to  earth  in  human  form ;  his  body,  a  nobler  temple  than  that  of 
Herod,  enshrined  the  divine  nature;  and  as  they  would,  within  a  short 
time,  destroy  this  human  temple,  he  would  demonstrate  to  them  his 
divine  authority,  by  raising  it  from  the  tomb  in  a  more  wondrous  body 
within  three  days  after  its  destruction.  The  saying  was  not  forgotten 
by  the  priests  or  by  John,  who  had  listened  to  it.  The  former  sought 
to  make  it  the  ground  of  a  charge  against  him,  just  before  his  cruci- 
fixion, of  conspiracy  to  destroy  the  temple ;  while  to  John,  after  the 
event,  it  was  seen  to  be  a  prophecy  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 

The  miracles  wrought  by  Jesus  in  the  temple  and  in  Jerusalem  had 
attracted  the  attention  of  many  of  the  ruling  class ;  and  one  of  them, 
Nicodemus,  the  teacher  or  "wise  man"  of  the  Sanhedrim,  or  great 
council  of  Jerusalem,  the  third  officer  in  rank  of  that  body,  ventured  to 
visit  Jesus  by  night,  during  his  stay  in  Jerusalem,  impelled  by  a 
variety  of  motives.  He  had  admitted  to  himself,  evidently,  that  Jesus 
might  be  the  Messiah;  if  he  should  prove  to  be  (and,  like  all  the 
Pharisees,  he  had  no  other  idea  of  the  Messiah  than  that  he  was  to  be 
a  temporal  prince,  and  the  deliverer  of  the  Jewish  nation  from  the 
Romans),  there  would  be  a  fine  opportunity  for  him,  a  counsellor,  a 
Pharisee,  and  a  man  of  learning  and  influence,  by  attaching  himself 


THE  APOSTLES   OF  JESUS.  227 

tlius  early  to  his  cause,  to  become  one  of  the  chief  officers  of  his 
"eaim  There  may  have  been,  also,  some  desire  to  know  more  of  this 
.mgdom  of  heaven  or  of  God,  of  which  both  Christ  and  John  the 
baptist  had  so  much  to  say,  and  a  lurking  suspicion  down  in  the 
'epths  of  his  heart  that  even  he,  with  all  his  strictness  of  ritual 
./oservances,  was  not  quite  perfect,  and  that  this  great  Teacher  might 
-e  able  to  fill  an  aching  void  which  he  found  in  his  heart.  John  was 
present  at  this  interview,  'and  his  interesting  narrative  of  Christ's 
method  of  laying  bare  the  needs,  cravings  and  experiences  of  a  self- 
righteous  soul,  though  written  after  the  lapse  of  half  a  century,  show 
that  even  then  he  had  a  very  clear  conception  of  the  omniscience  of 
lis  Divine  Master.  The  stay  of  Jesus  at  Jerusalem  was  brief;  he  had 
declared  himself  as  the  Messiah,  by  his  deeds  and  miracles,  and  had 
awakened  the  active  enmity  of  the  Pharisaic  or  priestly  party  thereby ; 
ind  not  being  desirous  of  further  provoking  their  hostility  at  this 
time,  he  withdrew  quietly  to  one  of  the  towns  of  Judsea,  north  of 
Jerusalem,  where,  very  soon,  the  people  flocked  to  him  to  receive 
instruction,  in  even  greater  numbers  than  had  attended  the  preaching 
3f  Johi.  the  Baptist.  Here,  under  his  direction,  his  disciples,  and  John 
tmong  the  number,  administered  baptism  to  those  who  acknowledged 
dm  as  the  Messiah,  and  ere  long  his  personal  following  had  exceeded 
hat  of  his  forerunner.  An  incident  which  occurred  at  this  time,  and 
s  recorded  in  the  Gospel  of  John,  mdicates  very  clearly  that  neither 
lealousy  nor  envy  had  any  place  in  the  soul  of  John  the  Baptist 
Some  of  his  disciples,  who  had  been  having  an  angry  discussion  with 
tlhe  Phariiices  about  the  oral  law  and  the  traditions  of  the  rabbis,  came 
'0  John  the  Baptist  with  a  grievance,  which  had  evidently  been 
aggravated  by  the  taunts  of  their  adversaries  :  "  Rabbi,"  said  they,  "  he 
that  was  with  thee  beyond  Jordan,  to  whom  thou  barest  witness, 
behold  the  same  baptizeth,  and  all  men  come  unto  him."  John 
almly  replied,  "that  he  had  always  declared  that  he  was  not  the 
.Christ,  but  only  his  forerunner;  and  that,  as  the  Christ  or  Messiah  was 
now  come,  his  own  mission  was  drawing  to  a  close.  Christ  must 
increase,  he  must  decrease,  and  that  he  rejoiced  in  this  result."  He 
continued  with  an  ascription  of  praise  to  Jesus,  fully  recognizing  his 


22S  -  ST.  JOHN,   THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE, 

iivine  nature  and  origin,  and  silencing  forever  the  complaints  of  his 
iisciples  Shortly  after  this,  John  the  Baptist  was  seized  and 
imprisoned  in  the  castle  Machaerus  by  Herod  Antipas,  probably  ir 
part,  at  least,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Pharisees,  and  a  few  month-; 
later  beheaded.  The  hostility  of  the  enemies  of  Christ  was  S(f 
strongly  manifested  that  he  left  his  retreat,  in  the  foot-hills  of  Mount 
Ephraim,  and  set  out  on  his  return  to  Galilee.  "And  he  must  needs 
go  through  Samaria."  This  was  not  the  usual  route  from  Judaea  to 
Galilee,  as  the  hatred  which  existed  between  the  Jews  and  Samaritans 
was  so  intense,  that  it  often  led  to  bloodshed,  and  almost  always  to 
the  withholding  of  all  the  courtesies  of  life  between  the  two  nations 
The  Jews,  under  John  Hyrcanus,  had  burned  the  Samaritan  temple 
on  Mount  Gerizim,  and  the  Samaritans,  within  a  few  years  before  the 
public  ministry  of  our  Lord,  had  by  some  means  entered  the  temple 
at  Jerusalem  at  night,  and  strewed  dead  men's  bones  in  the  holy 
place,  and  on  the  altar  of  sacrifice  It  was  therefore,  undoubtedly,  a 
surprise  to  John  and  the  other  disciples  of  Jesus,  when  he  announced 
his  determination  to  return  to  Galilee  by  way  of  Samaria.  The  sons 
of  Zabdai  and  the  sons  of  Jonas,  as  devout  Jews,  entertained,  as  in 
duty  bound,  the  bitterest  hatred  of  the  Samaritans,  and  must  have 
been  reluctant  to  pass  through  their  country;  but  they  were  too  much 
attached  to  their  Lord  to  draw  back  from  any  peril  to  which  he  saw 
fit  to  expose  himself 

It  was  on  this  journey,  and  during  the  absence  of  his  disciples  in 
the  neighboring  city  to  purchase  provisions,  that  Jesus  held  that 
conversation  with  the  Samaritan  woman,  at  Jacobs  well,  which 
John  has  so  faithfully  reproduced  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  his 
gospel,  and  the  rehearsal  of  which  he  doubtless  received  from 
the  lips  of  his  Divine  Master.  Their  journey  was  delayed  for 
two  days,  while  the  first  fruits  of  his  labors  in  Samaria  were 
gathered  in,  and  the  foundation  laid  for  that  extensive  work  of 
grace  in  Samaria,  six  or  seven  years  later,  when  John  and  Peter 
reaped  an  abundant  harvest. 

The  journey  to  Galilee  was  now  resumed,  and  Jesus  entered  upon 
his  beneficent  work  of  preaching  the  gospel,  and  performing  miracles 


THE  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS.  229 

•^i  healing,  and  blessing  the  multitudes  who  thronged  around  him 
n  Capernaum,  Bethsaida,  Chorazin,  and  the  other  populous  towns  of 
•lie  plain  of  Gennesaret.  His  home,  at  this  time,  was  at  Capernaum 
A'hither  Andrew  and  Peter  certainly,  and  James  and  John  probably 
had  removed..  During  this  period  of  six  or  eight  months,  before 
[esus  again  visited  Jerusalem,  he  was  very  active.  Besides  his  labors 
at  the  towns  and  cities  around  the  lake,  he  had  delivered  his  sermon 
on  that  mount  which,  from  its  double  peak,  was  known  as  the  Horns 
of  Hattin ;  had  visited  and  taught  the  people  on  the  eastern  and 
northeastern  shores  of  the  lake ;  had  selected  and  commissioned  his 
twelve  apostles,  and  had  made,  either  in  person,  or  by  his  disciples, 
whom  he  sent  out  two  and  two,  a  circuit  of  the  Galilean  towns.  In  all 
this  time,  except  possibly  a  very  few  weeks,  John  was  his  constant 
companion,  and  received,  perhaps  in  larger  measure  than  either  of  the 
other  apostles,  constant  instruction  from  his  lips.  Peter,  Andrew  and 
James,  who  were  next  to  him  in  their  intimacy  with  their  Lord,  had 
for  a  time,  and  until  they  received  a  second  call,  resumed  their  former 
obcupation ;  but  after  they  were  chosen  apostles,  they  too  were 
constantly  in  attendance  upon  him,  or  engaged  in  missionary  labors, 
performed  at  his  command.  The  two  sons  of  Jonas  and  the  two  sons 
of  Zabdai  hold  the  first  place  in  all  the  lists  of  the  apostles,  and  were 
undoubtedly  the  first  chosen  by  Jesus.  Of  the  four,  Peter,  both  from 
age  and  impulsiveness,  was  the  acknowledged  leader,  though  John 
was  the  most  beloved  and  cherished.  An  English  writer  of  great 
ability,  Professor  Plumptre,  draws  a  very  fine  distinction  between  the 
relation  which  these  two  disciples  held  to  the  lord :  "  Peter,"  he  says, 
"was  the  friend  of  Christ  as  the  Messiah,  the  first  to  acknowledge  his 
divine  character,  and  to  adore  him  as  the  Son  of  God ;  John  on  the 
other  hand  was  the  friend  of  yesus ;  clinging  with  the  most  intense 
affection  to  his  humanity,  and  recognizing  him  as  the  incarnate 
Saviour."  It  is  a  somewhat  remarkable  commentary  on  these  ideas, 
that  the  gospel  which  is  regarded  as  containing  in  substance  Peter's 
narrative  of  the  life  of  Christ,  speaks  of  him  most  frequently  as  the 
Son  of  man,  and  is  most  definite  in  its  descriptions  of  his  earthly  life; 
while    the   Gospel   of  John   is    almost   wholly   occupied    with    the 


230  57".  JOHN,   THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE. 

demonstration  of  his  divine  nature.  To  John  he  is  the  "Son  of 
God,"  "  the  Word  who  was  with  God  and  who  was  God,"  but  who 
"  was  made  flesh  and  dv/clt  among  us," 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  this  distinction,  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
to  Peter,  James  and  John  was  granted  a  closer  special  intimacy  with 
their  Master,  than  to  any  other  of  the  apostles.  They  were  with  hin 
in  the  chamber  of  death  (Mark  v,  37) ;  in  the  glorious  scene  of  the 
transfiguration  (Matt,  xvii,  i);  when  he  forewarned  them  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  (Luke  xxi,  7) ;  and  in  the  agony  of 
Gethsemane  (Matt,  xxvi,  36-56) ;  John  was  the  disciple  who  reclined 
next  to  Jesus  at  the  passover  feast,  and  at  the  Lord's  supper  then 
instituted ;  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  when  Jesus  had  declared  to  the 
twelve,  in  that  sad  hour,  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  that  one  of 
you  shall  betray  me,"  and  the  other  disciples  were  questioning,  "  Lord, 
is  it  I  ?  "  as  if  in  doubt  of  their  own  fidelity  under  the  pressure  of 
a  terrible  temptation,  John  alone,  of  them  all,  does  not  ask  this 
question ;  the  union  of  soul  between  him  and  his  Master  is  so 
complete  that,  as  he  himself  said  long  afterward,  in  his  first  epistle, 
"perfect  love  casteth  out  fear."  He  knows  that  it  is  impossible  for 
him  to  betray  Christ,  and  though  not  boastful  like  Peter,  he  looks  up 
frankly  and  lovingly  into  the  eyes  of  Jesus,  and  when  Peter  who 
understood  the  intimacy  of  his  relation  to  Christ,  beckons  to  him, 
he  asks  with  perfect  confidence,  "  Lord,  who  is  it  ?  " 

And  yet,  we  grieve  to  say,  that  ardent  as  was  his  love  for  Jesus,  he 
could  not  maintain  his  watchfulness  for  even  an  hour,  when  his  Lord 
was  passing  through  that  fearful  agony  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane. 
This  may  have  been  the  result  of  intense  weariness  and  sorrow;  to 
Uiis  cause  Jesus,  in  mercy,  attributed  it;  but  he  was  more  self- 
possessed  and  brave  than  any  other  of  the  disciples  after  the  arrest 
of  his  Lord.  He  followed  him  to  the  palace  of  the  high  priest, 
and  having  been  in  former  years  acquainted  with  the  high  priest,  he 
readily  obtained  admission,  and  seems  to  have  been  the  only  one  of 
the  disf^'ples  who  witnessed  the  entire  trial,  both  before  the  high  priest 
and  before  Pilate;  for  thout.  \  Peter  was.  for  a  short  time,  in  the 
ante-room  of  the  palace,  he    vas  in  such  fear,  and  so  frequent  ir 


77^5-  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS.  231 

his  denials  of  Christ,  that  he  could  hardly  be  said  to  be  a  witness. 
John  followed  on  to  the  cross,  where  again  he  was  the  only  one  of  the 
rw'elve  who  was  present,  his  companions  being  those  noble  women, 

who,  more  coura- 
geous than  any  of 
the  chosen  apos 
ties,  except  John, 
were  "last  at  the 
cross  and  earliest 
at  the  grave ; " 
and  it  was  there, 
amid  his  dying 
agonies,  that 
Jesus  committed 
to  this  faithful 
disciple  the  sa- 
cred trust  of  car- 


mg  for  that  dear 
mother  whose 
heart  was  so  rent 
with  sorrow. 

On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  resur- 
rection, when  the 
first  tidings  came 
that  the  grave 
had  been  de- 
spoiled  of  its 
prey,  John  and 
Peter  set  out  for 
the  sepulchre, 
and  for  once 
John's  zeal  sur- 
passed that  of  Peter,  and  out-running  him,  he  came  first  to  the 
sepulchre.     His  recognition  of  his' risen  Lord  was  perfect,  and  in  that 


'AND   FROM   THAT   HOUR,  THAT  DISCIPLE  TOOK   HER  UNTO  HIS 
OWN  HOME."— John  xix,  27. 


232  ST.  JOHN,   THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE 

memorable  interview  after  the  resurrection,  at  the  sea  of  Galilee,  his 
quick  and  loving  eye  detected  his  Master,  before  Peter  or  any  othei 
of  the  seven  disciples,  who  were  in  the  company.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  our  Lord,  by  those  searching  questions,  tested  the  love  of  Peter 
for  him,  and  then  revealed  to  him  his  future,  with  the  martyr's  pains 
and  the  martyr's  crown,  and  to  John  the  prolongation  of  his  life 
beyond  the  period  of  Jerusalem's  destruction. 

But  in  thus  rapidly  glancing  over  the  evidences  of  the  intense  love 
which  filled  the  hearts  alike  of  the  disciple  and  his  Master,  we  have 
passed  over  several  incidents  in  his  early  training  as  an  apostle,  which 
show  most  conclusively  that  John's  was  no  soft,  impressible,  plastic 
nature,  which  adapts  itself  readily  to  each  new  impress  of  a  stronger 
mind,  without  possessing  any  positive  character  of  its  own.  On  the 
contrary  he  was  a  man  of  great  energy,  and  of  a  fiery,  ambitious  nature, 
full  of  strong  prejudices,  retaining  with  great  tenacity  his  early  ideas, 
and  even  recurring  to  them  again  and  again  after  their  falsity  had 
been  demonstrated  to  him.  That  these  traits  of  a  willful  and  perverse 
disposition  were  in  the  end  so  completely  eradicated  as  to  make  him 
an  example  to  the  church  in  all  ages,  of  all  that  was  pure  and  lovely 
and  of  good  report,  is  due,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  moulding  and 
controlling  influence  which  Jesus  exerted  over  him  in  a  greater  degree 
than  over  any  other  of  his  disciples ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  to  the 
affection  which  this  intense  love  of  Christ  for  him  had  developed  in 
his  soul,  and  which  made  it  his  highest  ambition  to  do  always  those , 
things  which  would  please  his  Lord  and  Master.  "We  love  him 
because  he  hath  first  loved  us." 

He  who  "  knew  what  was  in  man  "  better  than  any  man  couM 
know,  and  who  read  the  entire  nature  and  history  of  every  man  who 
came  into  his  presence  at  a  glance,  when  he  called  James  and  John 
to  be  apostles,  named  them  Boanerges,  "  sons  of  thunder,"  a  title 
indicative  of  their  character.  They  were  not  like  the  fleecy  cloud, 
which  melts  and  disappears  when  the  sun's  rays  fall  directly  upon  it, 
nor  Uke  those  cloud  banks  that  lie  athwart  the  western  sky  at  the 
close  of  day,  and,  clad  in  hues  of  purple  and  gold  and  violet,  make 
more  beautiful  the  sun's  decline ;  rather,  they  were  the  dark,  threaten- 


THE  APOSTLES   OF  JESUS.  233 

ing  clouds,  heavy  with  the  coming  rain,  and  from  out  whose  jagged 
rifts  leap  the  live  thunder  and  the  swift  lightning-stroke ;  vehement 
for  the  right,  like  the  old  prophets ;  men  of  strong,  earnest,  mtense 
natures,  who  would  "  not  handle  the  word  of  God,"  the  truths  which 
he  had  revealed, "  deceitfully."  Very  soon  did  they  give  evidence  that 
the  name  he  had  bestowed  upon  them  was  not  misapplied. 

It  was  not  till  the  two  brothers  had  been  for  nearly  a  year  under  his 
/training,  that  he  sent  them  forth  to  preach  and  teach  in  the  towns  and 
villages  of  Galilee ;  and  their  first  mission  was  one  of  many  limita- 
tions. They  were  not  to  enter  any  Samaritan  or  Gentile  village ;  full 
well  he  knew  their  bitter  hatred  and  contempt  of  the  Samaritans ;  and 
though  he  had  showed  them,  by  his  own  labors  in  Samaria,  that  these 
despised  people  were  not  beyond  the  pale  of  his  mercy,  their  pre- 
judices were  as  yet  too  strong  to  make  it  safe  to  trust  them,  even 
with  the  gospel  message,  to  those  for  whom  they  entertained  such 
loathing;  they  were  sent  at  this  time  only  to  their  Jewish  brethren, 
who  were  already  to  some  extent  informed  concerning  the  character 
and  mission  of  Christ;  they  were  to  proclaim  him  as  the  Messiah, 
and,  where  it  was  needful,  to  perform  in  his  name  the  simpler  miracles 
of  healing.  They  knew  and  comprehended  but  little  of  the  scheme 
of  salvation,  but  what  they  knew  they  told  correctly.  On  their  return 
from  this  circuit,  they  came  to  Jesus,  somewhat  elated,  not  that  so 
many  had  received  the  gospel  message,  but  that  the  devils,  the 
demons  which  had  taken  possession  of  the  bodies  of  men,  had  been 
subject  to  them  through  his  name  Gently  rebuking  their  exuberant 
joy  at  this  result  of  their  labors,  Jesus  reminded  them  that  they  had 
occasion  for  a  higher  joy,  that  their  names  were  written  in  heaven. 
■•They  proceeded  with  their  report,  and  here  it  is  John  that  speaks: 
•'  Master,  we  saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  thy  name,  and  he  followeth 
not  us ;  and  we  forbade  him,  because  he  followeth  not  us. '  Jesus  said, 
"  Forbid  him  not ;  for  there  is  no  man  which  shall  do  a  miracle  in  my 
name,  that  can  lightly  speak  evil  of  me." 

In  their  second  mission  the  powers  of  the  apostles  were  somewhat 
enlarged,  and  in  a  part  at  least  of  this  circuit  of  Galilee,  which 
extended  also  to  Tyre  and  Sidon.  and  to  tb""  half-heathen  villages  <rf 


234 


ST.  JOHN,    THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE. 


the  eastern  side  of  the  lake,  Jesus  himself  accompanied  them.  They 
saw  the  miracles  which  he  did,  heard  his  parables,  and  listened  to  his 
explanation  of  them,  and  were  daily  instructed  by  him  in  private ;  yet 
as  they  journeyed  by  his  side,  or  followed  in  his  footsteps,  what -was 
the  most  common  theme  of  their  discussion,  and  sometimes  of  angry 
debate  ?  not  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  those  to  whom  they  pro- 
claimed the  gospel,  not  the  overthrow  of  the  powers  of  evil,  or  the 
banishment  of  the  sins  which  were  everywhere  so  rife.  None  of 
these.  It  was,  which  of  them  should  be  the  greatest,  should  occupy 
the  highest  station  in  the  coming  reign  of  the  Messiah,  and  receive 
the  highest  rewards  of  money  and  power  for  their  fidelity  to  Christ. 
"  Lo  I  "  said  Peter,  "  we  have  left  all  and  followed  thee ;  what  shall  we 
have  therefor  .^ "  The  idea  that  the 
Messiah  was  to  be  a  temporal  prince, 
who  should  deliver  them  from  the  sway 
of  the  hated  Romans,  and  should  there- 
after reign  in  great  glory  and  power  over 
the  Jews,  sitting  on  the  throne  of  David, 
was  thoroughly  ingrained  into  their 
minds;  Jesus,  they  were  sure,  was  the 
Messiah,  and  they  were  daily  looking  for 
his  assumption  of  kingly  power,  and 
when  the  multitudes  were  disposed,  with 
loud  acclaim,  to  take  him  by  force  and  make 
him  king,  they  were  rejoiced,  and  wondered  at  his  refusal  to  yield  lo  their 
urgency.  If  he  did,  as  they  were  persuaded  he  would,  at  last  accept 
the  offered  throne,  they,  who  had  abandoned  all  to  serve  hin/,  were 
entitled  to  the  best  places  in  his  kingdom,  and  the  only  question  was,, 
what  should  be  the  division  of  the  offices  ?  It  is  painful  to  think  that 
James  and  John,  who  had  seen  so  much  of  the  meek  and  humble 
spirit  of  Christ,  who  had  so  often  been  assured  by  him  that  his 
kingdom  was  not  of  this  world,  but  that  it  was  a  rule  and  government 
over  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men,  and  that  the  whole  nature  must 
be  renewed  before  any  one  could  enter  it,  should  have  engaged  in  this 
unseemly  wrangle ;  but  so  it  was,     Tesus  had  said,  perhaps  before  this 


SYRIAN   SH^JEP. 


THE  APOSTLES   OF  JESUS.  235 

time,  for  the  encouragement  of  the  twelve,  "  Verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
that  ye  which  have  followed  me,  in  the  regeneration,  when  the  Son  of 
man  shall  sit  in  the  throne  of  his  glory,  ye  also  shall  sit  upon  twelve 
thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  And  every  one  that  hath 
forsaken  houses,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or 
children,  or  lands,  for  my  name's  sake,  shall  receive  an  hundred-fold, 
and  shall  inherit  everlasting  life."  Overlooking  the  wholly  spiritual 
character  of  this  promise,  and  regarding  it  solely  as  the  guarantee  of 
temporal  advancement  soon  to  come,  the  disciples  looked  forward 
eagerly  to  their  several  shares  in  the  offered  rewards.  Among  the 
twelve  none  had  been  nearer  or  apparently  dearer  to  Christ,  than  the 
two  sons  of  Zabdai,  and  their  ambition  was  roused  to  obtain  the 
highest  places  in  this  new  kingdom. 

Accordingly  they  communicated  their  wishes  to  their  mother 
Salome,  who  had  followed  Christ  throuohout  Galilee,  and  had 
ministered  to  him  of  her  substance  or  property.  The  mother  was 
not  less  ambitious  for  her  sons  than  they  were  for  themselves ;  and  the 
three  came  to  Jesus  when  he  was  alone  and  offered  their  request,  the 
mother  urging  and  the  sons  seconding  it.  At  first  she  desired  a 
certain  thing  of  him,  but  seemed  reluctant  to  name  her  request,  but 
when  Jesus  said  to  her,  "  What  wilt  thou  ?  "  she  answered,  "  Grant  that 
these  my  two  sons  may  sit,  the  one  on  thy  right  hajid,  and  the  other 
on  the  left,  in  thy  kingdom."  The  immediate  right  and  left  hands  of 
the  monarch  were  the  places  of  highest  honor ;  and  thus  these  two 
young  men  desired  for  themselves — for  they  repeated  the  request — 
the  highest  positions  in  that  kingdom,  which  they  persisted  in  believ- 
ing he  was  about  to  found  in  Palestine.  The  reply  of  Jesus  was  a 
sterner  rebuke  than  he  had  yet  given  to  any  of  his  disciples,  yet  it 
was  administered  in  love.  "  Ye  know  not,"  he  said,  "  what  ye  ask. 
Are  ye  able  to  drink  of  the  cup  that  I  shall  drink  of,  and  to  be 
baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with  ? "  Utterly 
ignorant  of  the  sorrow  and  suffering  which  these  significant  words 
included,  they  replied  confidently,  "  We  are  able."  Jesus  said  unto 
them,  "  Ye  shall  drink  indeed  of  my  cup,  and  be  baptized  with  the 
baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with ;  but  to  sit  on  my  right  hand  and  on 


236  57:  JOHN,   THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE. 

my  left  is  not  mine  to  give,  but  it  shall  be  given  to  them  for  whom 
it  is  prepared  of  my  Father."  The  other  members  of  the  apostolu 
band  were  very  indignant  at  this  request  of  the  two  brothers ;  not 
that  they  had  any  clearer  ideas  of  the  spiritual  character  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  but  that  they  regarded  this  as  an  effort,  on  the 
part  of  James  and  John,  to  steal  a  march  on  them  and  prefer  a 
prior  claim  to  the  dignities  of  the  new  kingdom.  And  this  was  after 
these  two  disciples  and  Peter  had  witnessed  the  glories  of  the 
transfiguration,  and  but  a  few  weeks,  or  months  at  the  furthest,  before 
his  crucifixion  I 

We  may  notice,  incidentally,  that  even  the  crucifixion  and  resurrec- 
tion of  our  Lord  did  not  wholly  dispel  this  idea  of  the  temporal 
kingdom  of  the  Messiah  from  the  minds  of  his  disciples.  The  two 
disciples  who  went  to  Emmaus,  on  the  day  of  the  resurrection,  said  to 
Jesus,  of  himself,  "We  trusted  that  it  had  been  he  which  should  have 
redeemed  Israel,"  that  is,  from  the  Roman  power;  and  the  question 
put  by  the  eleven  to  our  Lord,  on  the  very  day  of  his  ascension,  aftei 
having  received  from  his  lips  the  great  commission,  shows  with  what 
tenacity  they  still  clung  to  the  idea  of  a  temporal  kingdom:  "Lord, 
wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore  the  kingdom  unto  Israel  ?  " 

One  more  example  of  the  fiery  spirit  and  the  abiding  prejudices  of 
James  and  John,  will  show  how  much  need  there  was  of  a  deeper 
sanctiflcation  in  their  hearts ;  when  Jesus  had  commenced  that  last 
journey  toward  Jerusalem,  which  was  to  close  with  his  arrest  and 
crucifixion,  he  sent  James  and  John  into  a  village  of  the  Samaritans 
to  make  ready  for  his  stay  over  night ;  but  the  inhabitants,  supposing 
that  his  intention  was  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  refused  to  receive  him. 
\This  was  churlish ;  yet  had  it  occurred  in  any  Jewish  village,  the 
'disciples  would  have  found  some  excuse  for  it,  but  it  was  the  hated 
Samaritans  who  had  refused  shelter  to  the  Messiah ;  and  the  loyalty 
of  the  brothers  to  their  Master  joined  with  their  hate  of  these  people, 
and  they  asked,  and  we  may  easily  believe  that  it  was  John  who  put 
the  question:  "Lord,  wilt  thou  that  we  command  fire  to  come  down 
from  heaven,  and  consume  them,  even  as  Elias  did?"  But  Jesus 
turned  and  rebuked  them,  and  said,  "Ye  know  not  what  manner  of 


THE  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS.  237 

spirit  ye  are  of  For  the  Son  of  man  is  not  come  to  destroy  mcn'i> 
lives,  but  to  save  them."     And  they  went  to  another  village 

We  might  multiply  these  instances,  which  illustrate  the  narrow  and 
sordid  views  which,  at  times,  gained  the  ascendancy  over  the  minds 
of  the  twelve  disciples,  and  James  and  John  nearly  as  much  as  the 
others,  up  to  the  very  day  of  the  ascension ;  but  what  we  have  already 
adduced  are  sufficient  to  show  that,  notwithstanding  all  the  preaching 
and  teaching  of  Christ,  notwithstanding  their  daily  personal  inter- 
course with  him  for  three  years,  and  the  powerful  influence  he  exerted 
over  them,  they  were  still  under  the  bondage  of  Jewish  prejudices,  of 
personal  and  unhallowed  ambition,  and  of  a  zeal  not  according  to 
knowledge.  They  were  not  as  yet  wholly  sanctified  nor  consecrated 
for  the  work  in  which  they  were  to  engage.  Our  Lord  knew  this,  and 
hence  he  commanded  them  to  remain  at  Jerusalem,  until  they  should 
receive  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost 

They  obeyed,  and  after  ten  days  of  earnest  prayer,  the  promised 
descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  came,  and  they  were  fitted  to  enter  upon 
their  great  work.  A  wondrous  change  had  come  upon  them  ail 
They  were  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  it  was  the  feast  of  Pentecost, 
one  of  the  great  Jewish  feasts,  when,  from  all  parts  of  the  Roman 
empire  the  Jews  of  the  dispersion  came  up  to  Jerusalem,  and 
presented  themselves  at  the  temple.  Fifty  days  before,  these  eleven 
apostles,  and  the  believers  who  were  now  with  them,  had  fled 
affrighted,  at  the  arrest  of  their  Master;  far  from  attempting  any 
resistance  or  rescue,  they  had  concealed  themselves,  and  met  but 
stealthily,  with  barred  and  bolted  doors,  lest  they  also  should  suffer 
arrest.  Their  Master  had  been  crucified  by  Roman  authority,  at  the 
urgent  solicitation  of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim ;  and  their  hopes  had 
fallen  to  the  dust.  But  he  had  risen  from  the  dead,  and  though  he 
had  not,  as  of  old,  led  them  through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
villages  of  Galilee,  showing  himself  openly  to  the  multitudes,  his 
resurrection  and  his  ascension  had  put  new  faith  and  courage  into 
their  hearts,  and  this  mysterious  but  all  powerful  influence  which  they 
now  experienced  had  consecrated  them  to  their  work,  and  they  were 
ready  for  any  labor,  any  sacrifice,  which  might  be  required  of  them. 


238  ST.  JOHN,    THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE. 

The  most  timid  of  the  apostolic  band  was  now  ready  to  face  the 
Sanhedrim,  or  the  Roman  authorities,  charge  upon  them  the  murder 
of  Jesus,  and  defy  their  power.  To  the  multitudes  who  thronged  the 
Jewish  capital,  they  preached  boldly  the  crucified  and  risen  Christ,  and 
urged  them  to  repent  and  believe  on  him. 

And  if  this  change  had  come  upon  all  the  disciples,  it  was  especially 
marked  in  the  case  of  Peter  and  John  Peter  was,  as  before  the 
crucifixion,  the  leader,  but  his  boastful  spirit  was  gone ;  he  was  meel< 
and  humble,  yet  full  of  zeal,  courage  and  energy,  and  henceforth  his 
chosen  associate  was  John  ;  together  the  two  preached  unto  the  people, 
administered  baptism  to  the  new  converts,  performed  miracles  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ,  charged  home  upon  the  rulers  their  responsi- 
bility for  the  death  of  Christ,  stood  undaunted  before  the  Sanhedrim, 
endured  their  threatenings  without  alarm,  and  without  yielding  for  a 
moment  to  their  demands ;  suffered  imprisonment,  and  were  beaten 
with  rods,  but  rejoiced  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame- 
in  and  for  the  Master's  name.  Meanwhile,  the  church,  which  they,  in 
accordance  with  their  Master's  command,  had  founded  at  Jerusalem, 
had  grown  so  rapidly  that  it  numbered  many  thousands  of  joyful 
believers ;  it  was  fully  organized,  and  had  been  consecrated  by  the 
blood  of  its  first  martyr,  and  a  violent  persecution  had  scattered  many 
of  its  prominent  members  ;  but  Peter  and  John  remained  at  Jerusalem, 
and  cared  for  the  remainder  of  the  flock.  Now  came  one  of  those 
questions  which  tested  the  completeness  of  the  change  wrought  in 
them.  Philip,  one  of  the  seven  deacons  (not  the  apostle),  had  left 
Jerusalem  in  consequence  of  the  persecution,  and  gone  to  Samaria 
where  he  had  preached  Christ  with  great  success, — the  recollection  o.' 
the  Saviour's  visit  there  undoubtedly  rendering  the  people  mor : 
ready  to  receive  the  gospel.  He  had  baptized  great  numbers,  am 
was  in  need  of  assistance  Thereupon,  the  church  at  Jerusalem  sent 
their  two  chief  pastors  to  aid  Philip  in  his  work.  Peter  and  John 
hastened  on  this  mission  of  love,  received  the  Samaritans  warmly  as 
brethren  in  Christ,  and  ere  they  returned  preached  the  gospel  in  many 
of  the  Samaritan  villages.     And  yet  this  same  John,  only  six  years 


THE  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS.  239 

before,  had  desired  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven  on  one  of  these 
Samaritan  villages  for  a  real  or  fancied  slight. 

Other  events,  following  thick  and  fast,  gave  evidence  of  the  great 
change  which  had  come  upon  these  two  apostles ;  Saul  the  persecutor 
had  become  Paul  the  apostle,  and  was  received  lovingly  by  John  and 
Peter  and  James ;  Peter  had  had  his  vision  of  the  beasts  let  down 
from  heaven,  and  its  fulfilment,  in  the  conversion  and  admission  into 
the  church  of  Cornelius,  the  Roman  centurion ;  Herod  Agrippa  had 
seized  and  put  to  death  James,  the  brother  of  John,  and  had  then 
seized  Peter,  intending  to  kill  him  also,  and  martyrdom  seemed  to 
await  John  and  the  other  apostles ;  but,  unmoved  by  his  personal 
danger,  he  and  the  whole  church  wrestled  in  prayer  for  Peter's 
deliverance,  and  it  came.  Peter  left  Jerusalem  for  a  time,  but  John 
remained  at  his  post,  and  the  persecutor  soon  died. 

For  the  next  fifteen  or  twenty  years  we  have  but  very  slight  record 
of  the  labors  of  John  ;  he  was  not,  probably,  at  the  council  at  Jerusalem, 
which  decided  the  important  question  of  the  relations  between  the 
Gentile  churches  and  those  composed  of  converted  Jews,  or  we  should 
have  heard  from  him  as  well  as  from  Peter ;  but,  before  their  departure 
from  Jerusalem,  Paul  speaks  of  John  as  having  given  the  hand  of 
fellowship  to  Barnabas  and  himself  John  remained  at  Jerusalem,  it 
is  supposed,  with  occasional  visits  to  other  parts  of  the  great  field  of 
labor  before  him,  until  perhaps  a.  d.  64,  when  the  evidences  of  the 
speedy  destruction  of  Jerusalem  led  the  Christians  there  to  obey  the 
Saviour's  command  and  flee  to  the  mountains.  Many  of  these,  and 
probably  the  apostle  among  the  number,  took  refuge  in  Pclla,  a 
mountain  fastness  on  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan,  about  eighteen 
miles  south  of  the  sea  of  Galilee.  His  stay  here  could  not  have  been 
long,  and  having  learned  that,  by  the  imprisonment  of  Paul,  and 
possibly  of  Timothy  also,  the  great  church  of  Ephesus,  as  well  as  the 
other  churches  of  the  province  of  Asia,  was  left  without  a  chief  pastor, 
he  departed  for  that  city,  sailing  probably  from  Caesarea  some  time 
in  the  year  a.  d.  65.  Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Ephesus  he  was,  by  the 
orders  of  Nero,  banished  to  the  little  rocky  islet  of  Patmos,  about 


240  ST.  JOHN,    THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE. 

sixty  miles  southwest  of  Ephesus  *  His  banishment  lasted  probably 
three  or  four  years,  terminating  with  the  death  of  Nero,  It  was 
during  his  exile  on  this  island  that  he  wrote  the  Book  of  Revelation, 
in  which,  after  detailing  the  view  he  had  of  his  now  glorified  Master, 
a  view  far  more  sublime  and  overwhelming  than  that  which  he  had 
witnessed  on  Mount  Hermon  at  the  transfiguration,  though  one  in 
which  he  recognized  at  once  his  adorable  Lord,  he  gives  the  messages 
received  from  him  to  the  seven  principal  churches  of  the  province  of 
Asia,  messages  of  warning,  reproof,  exhortation,  and  encouragement 
In  his  subsequent  visions  he  was  permitted  to  see  the  glories  of 
heaven,  and  to  see  and  hear  the  events  and  judgments  which  were  tc 
come  on  the  earth ;  before  his  eyes  was  unrolled  the  vision  of  the 
future  progress  of  the  church  militant;  the  rise,  growth,  progress,  and 
final  destruction  of  the  papal  power;  before  him  the  judgment  was 
set,  and  the  books  were  opened ;  the  dead,  small  and  great,  were 
raised  from  their  graves,  and  the  terrors  of  that  fearful  day  were  all 
portrayed ;  the  names  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life  were 
rehearsed  in  his  hearing ;  the  first  resurrection,  the  millennial  glories, 
the  final  destruction  of  the  wicked,  and  the  unspeakable  and  indescrib- 
able beauty  of  the  new  Jerusalem,  illumined  by  the  radiance  which 
proceeded  from  the  throne  of  God,  whose  walls  were  of  precious 
stones,  whose  gates  were  pearls,  and  whose  streets  were  of  pure 
gold,  were  shown  to  his  eager  eyes.  The  river  of  the  water  of  life, 
pure  as  crystal,  its  banks  shaded  by  the  tree  of  life,  which  bare  twelve 
manner  of  fruits,  and  yielded  its  fruit  every  month,  the  whole 
illuminated  by  the  divine  Light,  ana  needing  no  temple,  since  the 
Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  were  the  only  objects  of  worship 
were  also  presented  to  his  enraptured  vision- 
Little  need  we  wonder  that  the  rough  and  rocky  island  of  Patmos 
lost  all  its  roughness  and  discomfort  to  him  in   these  visions,  which 


♦This  date  accords  with  one  tradition,  though  another  makes  the  banishment  to  Patmos  the  restjll 
of  some  local  persecution,  and  to  have  occurred  several  years  later,  and  possibly  in  the  time  cf 
Domitian.  The  date  of  the  banishment  really  turns  upon  the  question  whether  the  Apocalypse  oi 
Revelation  was  written  before  or  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  The  weight  of  evidence  seenas  to  faver 
the  idea  that  it  was  written  before  that  event. 


THE  APOSTLES   OF  JESUS.  241 

rransformed  it  into  the  very  gate  of  heaven ;  nor  that,  when  recalled 
to  his  apostolic  work  at  Ephesus,  he  should  have  left  with  reluctance 
sts  rugged  cliffs. 

But  there  was  yet  much  for  him  to  do.  Paul  and  Peter,  his  owr 
orother  James,  and  James,  the  Lord's  brother,  that  James  the  Just  who 
lad  so  long  and  ably  presided  as  the  chief  pastor  of  the  church  ai 
Jerusalem,  had  all  gone,  through  the  martyrs  chariot  of  fire,  to  theii 
tiome  above.  To  him  there  was  given  a  longer  service,  more 
abundant  trials,  but  at  last  a  peaceful  and  quiet  death.  He 
probably  returned  to  Ephesus  about  the  beginning  of  the  year  a.  d 


THE  RIVER  01-   THE  WATER  OF  LIFE. 


69,  and  though  not  far  from  sixty-eight  years  of  age,  "  his  eye  was  not 
dim,  nor  his  natural  force  abated."  Vigorous  and  active,  he  visited  in 
turn  the  fifteen  or  twenty  churches  of  the  province  of  Asia,  counselled 
their  pastors,  and  very  possibly  extended  his  apostolic  labors  to 
Crete,  to  Cenchrea,  to  Athens,  to  Corinth,  and  to  the  churches  of 
Macedonia.  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  wide  dispersion 
of  the  Judaean  Christians,  many  of  whom  migrated  to  Asia  Minor, 
Macedonia  and  Greece,  must  have  greatly  increased  his  labors,  since 
to  most  of  them  he  was  personally  known. 

There  seems  to  be  good  reason  to  believe  the  testimony  of  the 
early  fathers,  some  of  whom  were  in  direct  communication  with  the 


U-i.  ST.  JOHN,    THE  BELOVED   DISCIPLE. 

now  venerable  apostle,  that  his  gospel  was  written  about  a.  d.  85  01 
86,  at  the  request  of  the  elders  of  the  church  at  Ephesus,  who, 
though  possessing  the  other  gospels,  desired  to  preserve  his  recollec- 
tions of  his  beloved  Master,  and  to  obtain  from  him  also  those 
particulars  which  had  not  been  recorded  by  the  others.  His  own 
purpose  in  writing  it  seems  to  have  been,  not  so  much  to  supplement 
the  other  gospels,  though  he  does  this  incidentally,  as  to  prove,  in  this 
life  of  Jesus,  that  he  was  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  God  manifest  in 
the  flesh.  Having  this  object  in  view,  he  divides  his  gospel  into  two 
parts :  the  first,  extending  from  the  first  to  the  thirteenth  chapter, 
consists  of  a  series  of  proofs  or  signs  that  Jesus  was  the  predicted 
Messiah,  the  appointed  Saviour  of  the  world ;  or,  in  other  words,  it  is 
a  record  of  what  Jesus  made  known  of  himself  to  convince  the 
unbelieving;  the  second  part,  extending  from  chapter  thirteenth  to 
the  end  of  the  book,  consists  of  evidence  that  Jesus  is  the  Saviour  of 
the  world,  derived  from  his  intercourse  and  discourses  in  private  with 
his  chosen  friends,  and  especially  as  seen  in  the  great  sacrifice  offered 
by  him,  and  its  acceptance  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.  When  we 
consider  that  this  gospel  must  have  been  written  when  he  was 
eighty-five  or  eighty-six  years  old,  and  possibly  nearer  ninety;  that  its 
detail  of  these  conversations  and  discourses  of  Christ  is  very  clear  and 
minute,  and  not  marred  in  the  slightest  degree  by  the  garrulity  of  old 
age,  and  that  the  style  of  its  composition  is  superior,  even,  to  that  of 
the  accomplished  and  learned  Paul,  while  the  Greek,  in  which  it  is 
written,  is  as  pure  as  that  of  the  best  classic  Greek  writers ;  we  can 
come  to  no  other  conclusions  than  these :  that  John  was  intellectually 
a  man  of  remarkable  genius  and  extensive  culture,  and  that  he  was 
especially  inspired  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  write  this  and  the  othei 
books  which  he  contributed  to  the  New  Testament. 

The  Gospel  of  John  is,  indeed,  so  far  as  any  book  or  document  can 
be,  one  of  the  main  pillars  of  the  Christian  system.  More  than  any 
other  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  it  is  devoted  to  the 
doctrines  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  and  of  the  Trinity  in  unity, 
and  hence  it  has  been  the  citadel  against  which  infidelity  and 
rationalism  have  made  their  most  vigorous  and  determined  assaults; 


THE  APOSTLES   OF  JESUS.  243 

but  they  have  assailed  it  in  vain :  it  stands  to-day  unharmed,  as  it  has 
stood  through  all  the  Christian  ages,  and  as  it  shall  continue  to  stand, 
until  the  last  foe  shall  have  hurled  his  last  missile  against  it. 

But,  though  already  past  the  allotted  age  of  man,  John  had  still 
work  to  do  for  the  Master  he  loved,  and  for  the  church  of  God.  He 
was,  it  is  supposed,  past  his  ninetieth  year  when  he  wrote  the  three 
epistles  which  bear  his  name.  They  show  on  their  pages  evidence  of 
advanced  age,  but  not  of  senility  or  weakened  mental  powers.  The 
theme  of  the  first  epistle  is  fellowship,  the  union  of  believers  with 
God  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  their  union  with  one  another. 
Like  all  of  John's  writings,  it  is  thoroughly  systematic.  He  treats 
first  of  the  nature  of  fellowship,  in  both  its  aspects  ;  second,  of  its  fruit, 
holiness ;  third,  of  its  law,  truth ;  fourth,  of  its  life,  love ;  fifth,  of  its 
root,  faith.  In  reading  it  we  are  often  reminded,  by  the  vigor  and 
almost  explosive  force  of  its  language,  that  this  old  man,  whose  head 
has  been  whitened  by  the  snows  of  almost  a  hundred  winters,  has  not 
yet  wholly  lost  that  fiery  zeal  which  gave  him,  in  his  youth,  the  title 
of  Boanerges,  a  "son  of  thunder."  His  heart,  great  and  loving  as  it 
is,  has  been  sorely  wounded  by  the  professions  of  false  disciples,  who 
claim  to  be  the  children  of  God,  and  to  be  perfect  and  sinless,  while 
their  lives  are  impure  and  their  hearts  full  of  malice,  bitterness  and 
hate  ;  and  he  denounces  them  in  such  terms  as  these :  "  If  we  say  that 
we  have  fellowship  with  him,,  and  walk  in  darkness,  we  lie,  and  do  not 
the  truth.  .  .  If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  our- 
selves, and  the  truth  is  not  in  us.  .  .  If  we  say  that  we  have  not 
sinned,  we  make  him  a  liar,  and  his  word  is  not  in  us.  .  .  He  that 
>aith,  I  know  him,  and  keepeth  not  his  commandments,  is  a  liar,  and 
ihe  truth  is  nt^t  in  him.  .  .  Who  is  a  liar  but  he  that  denieth  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ?  He  is  Antichrist,  that  denieth  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  .  .  He  that  loveth  not  his  brother  abideth  in  death. 
Whosoever  hateth  his  brother  is  a  murderer ;  and  ye  know  that  no 
murderer  hath  eternal  life  abiding  in  him."  The  honor  of  his  blessed 
Lord  was  assailed,  and  this  loving  and  gentle  disciple  was  roused  to 
wrath  and  denunciation,  as  he  was  in  his  youth,  when  a  word  was  said 
against  him  whom  he  loved.    And  yet,  in  other  portions  of  this  epistle, 


244  ST.  JOHN,    THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE. 

iiow  tender  and  sweet  is  his  spirit!  "Herein  is  love,  not  that  we 
oved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation 
■or  our  sins.  Beloved,  if  God  so  loved  us,  we  ought  also  to  love  on*- 
mother."  .  .  ♦'  There  is  no  fear  in  love ,  but  perfect  love  castetf 
out  fear;  because  fear  hath  torment  He  that  feareth  is  not  mad'* 
perfect  in  love." 

The  second  and  third  epistles  are  short,  and  addressed  to  individual 
disciples.  They  were  probably  written  at  a  date  still  later  than  the 
first,  but  breathe  the  same  spirit. 

The  exact  date  of  the  death  of  the  loving  and  venerable  apostle  is 
unknown ;  different  authorities  differing  more  than  twenty  years  in 
their  dates ;  but  the  most  probable  conjecture  seems  to  be  that  he  died 
at  Ephesus,  in  the  third  or  fourth  year  of  Trajan,  and  after  passing  his 
hundredth  year. 

Jerome  relates  that  when,  in  extreme  old  age,  he  was  too  weak  to 
walk  into  the  church,  he  was  still  borne  thither;  and  unable  to  delivei 
a  long  discourse,  he  would  lift  his  trembling  hands  and  simply  say, 
"Little  children,  love  one  another;"  and  repeat  these  words  again  and 
again.  When  asked  why  he  constantly  repeated  this  expression,  hi.s 
answer  was,  "  Because  this  is  the  command  of  the  Lord,  and  nothing 
is  done  unless  this  thing  be  done." 

So  passed  away  the  last  and  most  Christ-like  of  the  apostles 
From  the  day  of  his  Lord's  ascension  to  that  in  which  he  too  joined 
the  assembly  and  church  of  the  first-born,  whose  names  are  written  in 
the  book  of  life,  there  is  no  stain  or  blemish  on  his  character.  His 
life,  for  that  period  of  more  than  seventy  years,  was  as  pure  and 
spotless  as  any  recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  except  only  that  of  th«: 
Blessed  One,  to  whom  through  life  he  clung  in  adoring  love 
Innumerable  are  the  legends  which  have  come  down  to  us  concerning 
this  holy  servant  of  God  ;  some  of  them  are  absurd  and  puerile,  and 
unworthy  to  be  recorded,  as  they  are  totally  at  variance  with  his 
character.  These  are  probably  the  inventions  of  idle  monks,  who,  in 
the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  of  our  era,  spent  their  abundant  leisure  in 
the  concoction  of  all  manner  of  legends  concerning  the  apostles,  and 
even    concerning   Christ   himself.      A   few  are   deserving   of  notice 


THE  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS.  245 

becau5e  of  their  apparent  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  apostle,  and 
because,  from  their  earher  date,  there  is  a  stronger  possibiHty  of  their 
truth.  Whether  true  or  not,  they  are  not  inconsistent  with  his 
character 

The  tradition  of  his  shipwreck  on  his  first  voyage  to  Ephesus,  when 
near  that  port,  is  not  improbable,  for  the  ^gean  sea  was  often  a 
tempestuous  one,  and  its  many  rocky  islands,  and  its  harbors  and 
roadsteads  so  liable  to  be  filled  up  with  silt  from  the  mountain 
streams,  made  shipwrecks  there  very  frequent.  The  legend  that  he 
was  taken  to  Rome,  and,  by  the  orders  of  Nero,  or  some  other 
Roman  tyrant,  plunged  in  a  caldron  of  boiling  oil,  from  which  he 
emerged  entirely  uninjured,  rests  only  on  the  doubtful  authority  of 
Tertullian,  and  is  believed  by  many  of  the  most  careful  critics  to  be  a 
misinterpretation  of  the  words  of  some  earlier  writer. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful,  as  it  is  one  of  the  most  probable  of  these 
traditions,  is  that  which  relates  that,  as  he  was  visiting  the  church  at 
Pergamos,  he  saw  a  young  man  in  the  congregation  to  whom  he  was 
powerfully  drawn,  and  that,  turning  to  the  pastor  of  the  church,  he 
said,  "  I  commit  this  young  man  to  you,  before  Christ  and  the 
congregation."  The  minister  accepted  the  charge,  took  the  youth 
home,  instructed,  and  finally  baptized  him.  Subsequently  he  fell  into 
bad  company,  led  a  profligate  life,  and  at  last,  renouncing  all  his 
religious  professions,  joined  a  band  of  robbers,  and  became  their 
captain.  After  some  years  John  again  visited  Pergamos,  and  while 
there,  made  inquiry  of  the  pastor  concerning  the  young  man  whom  he 
had  committed  to  his  charge.  The  minister  sighed  heavily,  and  his 
tears  flowed,  as  he  replied,  "  He  is  dead."  "  Dead  I  "  said  John  ;  "  in 
what  way  did  he  die  ?  "  "  He  is  dead  to  God,"  answered  the  pastor , 
"he  became  godless,  and  finally  a  robber,  and  is  now  with  his 
companions  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains."  The  venerable 
apostle,  hearing  this,  started  at  once,  and  saying,  "  I  must  go 
after  this  lost  sheep,"  procured  a  horse  and  guide,  and  went  to  the 
mountain  in  which  was  the  robbers'  haunt.  Being  seized,  as  he 
had  expected,  by  the  band,  he  demanded  to  be  carried  into  the 
presence  of  their  captain      The  outlaw  chief  reco;^ni/.ing  John  as  he 


246  ST.  JOHN,    THE  BELOVED  DISCIPLE 

approached,  attempted  to  fly;  but  John  hastened  after  him,  crying, 
"Why  do  you  flee  from  me?  Stop!  stop!  Do  not  be  afraid.  If 
need  be,  I  will  lay  down  my  life  for  you,  as  Christ  laid  down  his  life 
for  us.  Believe,  Christ  hath  sent  me  to  you."  The  robber  stopped, 
threw  away  his  arms,  and  began  to  tremble  and  weep  bitterly.  John 
finally  let  him  back  to  the  church,  of  which  he  subsequently  became 
one  of  the  pillars,  demonstrating  the  genuineness  of  his  penitence  and 
conversion  by  his  holy  life  and  earnest  zeal. 

It  remains  that  we  should  seek  to  ascertain  what  are  the  lessons  to 
be  drawn  from  the  character  and  example  of  this  beloved  and 
eminently  holy  servant  of  Christ. 

We  have  seen  that,  though  possessed  of  rare  gifts  and  of  a  tender 
and  loving  nature,  he  was  in  his  youth  impulsive,  full  of  strong 
prejudices,  and  ambitious.  Yet  withal,  there  must  have  been  some- 
thing very  attractive  in  him,  some  winning  charm  in  his  ways,  which, 
with  his  strong  affections  and  his  pure  and  truthful  disposition,  drew 
the  human  heart  of  Jesus  to  him  in  a  love  which  many  waters  could 
not  quench.  He  was  the  most  loyal  to  Jesus  of  all  the  disciples, 
and  he  gives  this  grand  reason  for  his  loyalty:  "We  love  him 
because  he  hath  first  loved  us."  His  fidelity  to  his  Lord  was 
unquestioned  and  unquestionable.  No  doubts  of  the  perfect  and 
abiding  love  which  existed  between  them  ever  caused  a  shadow 
upon  his  brow,  or  for  a  moment  beclouded  his  spirit. 

And  yet  it  required  three  years  of  instruction  and  training  by  the 
divine  Master,  and  the  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  of  that 
Master,  to  rid  him  of  his  expectations  of  the  temporal  reign  of  the 
Messiah,  to  overcome  his  narrow  and  bitter  prejudices,  and  to  control 
his  vehement  and  passionate  nature. 

But  when  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Comforter,  had  come,  and  imparted 
its  sanctifying  and  elevating  influences  to  his  soul,  he  was  created 
anew  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  was  no  longer  a  Boanerges,  a  "son  of 
thunder,"  but  "a  son  of  consolation."  He  had  power  with  God  and 
prevailed.  Where  miracles  were  needed  for  the  confirmation  of  the 
truth,  they  were  wrought  in  the  name  of  his  Master ;  but  to  those  with 
whom  he  was  brought  in  contact  his  pure  and  holy  life  was  greater 


THE  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS.  247 

than  any  miracle.  Both  Peter  and  John  had  been  with  yesus,  as  the 
Sanhedrim  perceived  (Acts  iv,  13),  and  from  him  they  had  learned  far 
better  than  the  Jewish  rabbis  could  have  taught  them,  to  rebuke  sin, 
but  to  love  and  labor  for  the  sinner;  and  by  a  pure  and  holy  example 
.0  enforce  the  truths  they  preached. 

We  cannot  suppose  that  any  man,  except  our  adorable  Redeemer, 
has  ever  trod  our  earth  who  was  perfectly  free  from  sin,  but  it  is 
worthy  of  notice  that  the  inspired  writers,  who,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  noticed  so  freely  the  errors  and  shortcomings  of 
even  the  purest  and  holiest,  and  were  most  severe  of  all  upon  their 
own  sins,  nowhere,  after  the  day  of  our  Lord's  ascension,  pass  a  word 
of  censure  upon  John.  Peter,  the  great  apostle  of  the  circumcision, 
was  led  astray  in  his  course  in  regard  to  the  Jewish  and  Gentile 
disciples  at  Antioch;  and  even  Paul,  with  his  zealous  and  fervent 
spirit  and  his  overcoming  faith,  was  not  wholly  exempt  from  those 
infirmities  of  the  flesh,  which  at  times  led  him  to  cry  out,  "  Oh ! 
wretched  man  that  I  am!  Who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of 
this  death  ?  "  But  John  dwelt  perpetually  in  that  higher  atmosphere 
of  the  divine  love.  No  cloud  obscured  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
from  his  vision  ;  and  cheered  by  its  blessed  rays,  toil  for  his  Lord 
was  a  delight,  pain  was  a  pleasure,  and  he  could  say  with  the  poet — 

"  E'en  sorrow,  touched  by  thee,  grows  bright 
With  more  than  rapture's  ray; 
As  darkness  shows  us  worlds  of  light 
We  never  saw  by  day." 

Nor  can  we  doubt  that  the  visions  of  God  which  were  set  before 
him  in  Patmos  were  among  the  minor  rewards,  the  "  hundred-fold  in 
this  life,"  which  were  given  to  him  for  his  unfaltering  faith  and  his 
undying  love  for  his  Redeemer.  To  L.'ti,  as  to  Daniel,  the  message 
might  have  come,  "  O  man,  greatly  beloved,  fear  not." 

And  when  this  "  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved  "  was  at  last  received 
into  the  mansion  prepared  for  him  above,  does  it  transcend  the  grace 
of  our  blessed  Lord  to  suppose  that  the  position  which  he  ignorantly 
sought  on  earth,  in  the  days  of  his  early  ambition,  was  reserved  for 
him  in  the  heavenly  kingdom  ?     That,  having  drank  of  the  cup  of 


248  THE  APOSTLES  OF  JESUS.       . 

Christ's  earthly  sufferings,  and  having  undergone  his  baptism  of  sor- 
rows, this  saint  of  God,  so  greatly  beloved,  was  called,  not  as  a  matter 
of  right,  nor  because  of  any  claim  he  could  bring,  but  of  the  free  grace 
of  the  Redeemer,  to  sit  at  his  right  hand  as  one  of  the  prime  ministers 
of  the  now  glorified  and  reigning  Messiah  ?  If  such  is  his  blessed 
lot,  no  seraph  of  the  heavenly  host  will  utter  with  more  melodious 
notes  the  new  song,  or  with  a  more  reverent  and  adoring  spirit  will 
ascribe  "blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power  unto  Him  that 
sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever." 

The  lessons  of  this  beautiful  life,  then,  are  briefly  these :  That, 
however  pure  and  amiable  are  our  natural  dispositions,  we  need  to  be 
taught  of  Christ,  and  to  be  regenerated  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  before  we 
can  do  our  Master's  work  effectively. 

That,  since  Christ  hath  loved  us  and  given  himself  for  us,  the  only 
measure  of  our  love  for  him  should  be  his  love  for  us ;  and  that  the 
nearer  we  attain  to  a  perfect  and  all-absorbing  love  for  him,  the  fewer 
will  be  the  clouds  and  doubts  over  our  pathway,  and  the  more  perfect 
and  complete  our  peace  and  joy. 

That  it  is  only  to  those  who,  by  long  and  constant  trust  in  Christ, 
have  won  this  peace  which  passeth  all  understanding,  that  the  heavens 
are  opened  and  they  are  permitted  to  know  the  blessedness  of  the 
redeemed  in  glory,  while  they  are  still  within  this  earthly  tabernacle. 

That  if  we  would  have  an  open  and  abundant  entrance  administered 
to  us  into  the  New  Jerusalem  above,  we  must  imitate  the  example  of 
the  obedient,  faithful,  loving,  and  holy  John,  and,  like  him,  be  known 
to  all  around  us  as  the  disciples  whom  Jesus  loves.  God  has  prom- 
ised, "  He  that  overcometh  shall  inherit  all  things ;  and  I  will  be  his 
God,  and  he  shall  be  my  son." 

May  God  give  to  each  of  the  readers  of  this  book  grace  thus  to 
overcome. 


249 


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